Head coach Kyle Whittingham comes to Michigan with a singularly robust resume. After leading Utah since 2005, he is the third-winningest active head coach and second only to Kirk Ferentz in the Big Ten.
Michigan
UConn must overcome Michigan’s might to establish men’s basketball dynasty in national title game
There’s a dynasty brewing in college basketball. And, in a perfectly fitting twist, UConn can cement that status by overcoming a Michigan powerhouse that is racking up historically impressive numbers, hoping to go down as one of the sport’s greatest teams itself.
Those are the stakes in Monday night’s title game between the Huskies and Wolverines.
Connecticut is trying to become the first program since John Wooden’s UCLA behemoth of the 1960s and ’70s to win three championships over a four-season span, while Michigan is trying to cap off a March Madness string of dominance, the likes of which were last seen by this very UConn program that won it all in 2023 and ’24.
“This run they’re on is one of the best — probably the best — since John Wooden,” Michigan coach Dusty May said. “If we think riding in on a wave is going to take care of UConn, then we’re going to be very disappointed at about 11 p.m. tomorrow night or whenever the game concludes.”
The Wolverines (36-3), seeded first in the Midwest, are listed as a 6 1/2-point favorite by BetMGM Sportsbook. Even with his team’s front-runner pedigree, coach Dan Hurley of UConn (34-5), a No. 2 seed out of the East, is leaning into the underdog role, not fighting it.
“There’s been plenty of times in the history of this tournament where the best team hasn’t won it,” Hurley said. “You’ve just got to be better one night. The good thing for us, it’s not a seven-game series.”
In yet another twist with plot-shifting potential, the status of both Wolverines forward Yaxel Lendeborg and UConn guard Solo Ball could play heavily into this game.
Ball was walking around in a boot Sunday after spraining his left foot in the first half of UConn’s 71-62 win over Illinois. Lendeborg tweaked his knee and ankle when he landed awkwardly on the foot of Arizona’s Motiejus Krivas in the first half of Michigan’s 91-73 semifinal beatdown of the Wildcats.
Both have vowed they won’t miss Monday’s game.
“He played the second half like a 38-year-old at the YMCA — and a really good 38-year-old at the YMCA,” May said of his 15-point-per-game All-American. “Whatever version of Yaxel we get, it’s going to be somebody that helps us play better basketball.”
The Wolverines are the first team to score 90-plus points in five straight tournament games. They are trying to become the fifth team to win six tournament games by double digits. The other four: 2009 North Carolina, 2018 Villanova and both of the recent UConn teams.
“When you get to the Final Four and you know you have the best team, that was a different level of pressure than in ’23 where we weren’t really sure,” Hurley said of his ’24 squad. “But there’s also some pressure even if you’re — whatever — the underdog, because we’re one game away from having a national championship with this team.”
UConn, UM take different approaches to roster building
The Wolverines roster is a reflection of what college hoops looks like in the transfer-portal era. Four of their starters came to Michigan this season, as May fashioned a quick rebuild in his second year in Ann Arbor. This is May’s second trip to the Final Four in four seasons. His first came with Florida Atlantic.
“What makes Dusty May special as a coach is obviously his eye for talent, his ability to construct a roster, the fact that he insulates himself with an excellent coaching staff, and his ability to build team and culture,” Hurley said. “He’s got a special eye for how to put together a great team.”
UConn is built differently — with what Hurley would call judicious use of the transfer portal (Tarris Reed Jr., for instance, came from Michigan) combined with players who have become entrenched on a campus with 18 national basketball titles — six for the men and 12 for the women. The best example of that: Alex Karaban, who, with a title, could become the first player since the UCLA dynasty to win three national titles over his college career.
“You dream of being on this stage one time, and to be heading into it for a third time, it’s a blessing,” Karaban said.
At Michigan, the Fab Five is always front of mind
UConn isn’t the only program with a deep history. Michigan redefined college basketball in the 1990s with the Fab Five. Juwan Howard, Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Ray Jackson and Jimmy King came to the school together as freshmen in 1991. They made the title game twice and lost.
But they’re most remembered for bringing a baggy-shorts, mass-marketing brashness to the game, one underpinned by the question: Why are all these coaches and shoe companies raking in dough while we play for free?
“We got to college and started understanding the hypocrisy in the game, with the schools making millions and us sitting around poor as hell,” Jackson said in a 2023 interview with The Associated Press.
In today’s NIL landscape, players are making money and nobody overlooks the Fab Five’s role in pushing things forward. What that group was missing, of course, was the national title. Michigan’s only championship came in 1989, a few years before the Fab Five arrived.
“Other than Michael Jordan, since I’ve been alive, I don’t think there’s ever been a group change the culture for the better in our sport than the Fab Five,” May said earlier in the week. They’re “just number one. We’re proud to represent those guys and carry the flag for the former players at the University of Michigan.”
Hurley looks for a title … and a tailor
One key casualty of all this UConn success: Hurley’s sideline wear. He has worn the same blue suit at March Madness dating as far back as 2012 when he was coaching Rhode Island.
He also wears the same socks and underwear and eats eight M&Ms before games — but none of them green.
Anything to keep the good mojo going.
“The pants are fine,” Hurley said. “It’s the jacket that is really — the lining is a problem. There’s like three holes. When I stick my arm in the right, there’s like three different places (you can stick your arm), and if you can see it, it’s like the lining is coming through.
“I’m going to have to get a tailor in the offseason.”
NASA announced this week the four-man crew that will embark on the Artemis III mission, and one of those astronauts has ties to Michigan.
Mission specialist Andre Douglas, who served as a backup crew member for the recently completed Artemis II mission, received a master’s degree in mechanical engineering and a master’s degree in naval architecture and marine engineering from the University of Michigan in 2012, according to NASA.
Douglas will now join fellow astronauts Randy Bresnik, Luca Parmitano and Frank Rubio. Bresnik will serve as commander with Parmitano as the pilot.
The crew is expected to launch into Earth orbit in 2027 to test rendezvous and docking procedures with moon landers being built by SpaceX and Blue Origin before the U.S. sends astronauts back to the moon in 2028.
“To get an opportunity to serve in the Artemis program as someone who kind of just came in the door not too long ago, it’s a huge honor,” Douglas told CBS News.
According to NASA, Douglas was born in Miami and grew up in Virginia, graduating from Western Branch High School in Chesapeake. Douglas received his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 2008. After earning his master’s degrees from U of M, Douglas later earned his doctorate in systems engineering from Georgia Washington University in 2021.
NASA selected Douglas to join the 2021 Astronaut Candidate Class, and he reported for duty in 2022.
The Artemis III crew will carry out a mission similar to the Apollo 9 flight in 1969. During that time, three astronauts tested the spindly lunar excursion module in Earth orbit.
Note: The video above previously aired on June 9, 2026.
Mind you, this is a Utah program that has never won 10 games without Whittingham on staff; a program that has been playing at least 10 games in a season since the ‘50s did not reach double-digit wins until Whittingham joined the staff as an assistant in 1994. Since then, the Utes reached that threshold twice with Whittingham as defensive coordinator and eight times as head coach, including a program record 13 wins in 2008.
Whittingham navigated Utah through two conference changes, Mountain West to the Pac-12 in 2011, and the Big 12 in 2024, and each move came with an adjustment period. His only losing seasons (all three were 5-7 efforts) took place within three years of joining a new conference.
But those were only bumps in the road; excluding 2020 and his first game as head coach — a 35-7 Fiesta Bowl win at the end of the 2004 season after Urban Meyer left for Florida — let’s dive deeper into Whittingham’s winning ways.
Whittingham is 17-3 in season openers, with all three losses coming on the road. Two came early in his tenure against UCLA in 2006 and Oregon State in 2007, and the most recent defeat came in 2022 at Florida. The next time he faced all three of these teams, Utah won by an average of two touchdowns.
This record isn’t propped up by cupcakes either. Utah went 2-0 in openers against Michigan, 3-0 if we include all matchups. In 2008, in what was arguably the high point of the season for the Wolverines, Whittingham came to Ann Arbor and beat Rich Rodriguez by two points. That same Utah team would beat a 12-win Nick Saban Alabama squad in the Sugar Bowl by 14 points.
In 2015, the Jim Harbaugh era officially got underway in Salt Lake City. The Wolverines made it look better at the end, only losing by a touchdown, but the Utes led by multiple scores for most of the contest before winning by seven.
Throughout his career, Whittingham has rarely stumbled out of the gates and has never lost a season-opener at home. He is 10-1 all-time in the month of August and 55-20 in September, a mark that only dips slightly in the months to follow.
Whittingham is 48-28 in October and 48-30 in November. The incredible consistency comes with steady records against all his rivals, regardless of when the games are played. Unlike Michigan vs Ohio State — at least for pre-unwanted expansion — these games don’t take place at the same time every year. They are more similar to Michigan State or Minnesota.
As a head coach, Whittingham has a winning record against all three of Utah’s primary rivals. He is 11-6 against BYU, 11-3 against Colorado (a rivalry that reignited in 2011) and 8-1 against Utah State.
The Holy War is one of the most famous rivalry games in the sport and carries extra significance for Whittingham, who is a BYU alum. He left Utah on a down note, dropping the last three against the Cougars, including the last two by a combined five points. But before his protege Kalani Sitake (Sitake was an assistant under Whittingham for 10 years) began to get the better of him, Utah had won nine in a row, the longest streak in the rivalry since the ‘80s.
Save a year or two here and there, the Rumble in the Rockies was played every year between 1903-1962 before going dormant until 2011. Once resumed, Colorado exacted revenge in the first meeting before Whittingham ripped off a four-game win streak and a six-game (remember we are not counting the season played in front of cardboard cutouts) win streak, with a loss to the 2016 Buffs sandwiched in the middle. With the John O’Korn equivalent at quarterback for the Utes in 2024, Coach Prime smoked Whittingham by 25, but Whitt repaid the debt, winning by 46 last season.
And in the Battle of the Brothers, his only loss to Utah State came in overtime in 2012 during his first losing season as a head coach. He exacted his revenge the next year by four points, doubled down and won by 10 in 2015, and in his final game in 2024, the Utes won by 17.
Whittingham has shown growth in conference championship games. In his first two Pac-12 Championship Game appearances in 2018 and 2019, Utah lost and failed to score more than 15 points each time. The 2018 loss was especially painful, falling 10-3, and losing to Washington for the second time that season.
But in 2021, Utah finally reached the top of the conference. Following an inauspicious 1-2 start and the murder of cornerback Aaron Lowe (the second shooting death of a Utah player in less than a year), Whittingham rallied the troops to win eight of their next nine games and set up a clash with Oregon for conference superiority. Utah had beaten Oregon 38-7 earlier in the year and most expected a closer rematch. The Utes were only favored by three going into the game, but the Utes won handily, 38-10, and reached the Rose Bowl for the first time in program history.
The following year, Utah found itself in a similar situation, in a rematch with USC for the conference title. Utah had beaten USC by one point in one of the best games of the season earlier. In that game, Utah scored with less than a minute remaining and took the lead when Whittingham went for the two-point conversion and the win over the tie to prevail, 43-42. For the rematch, oddsmakers favored Lincoln Riley, Caleb Williams and USC by three, who just needed to win to reach the College Football Playoff.
Early on, it looked like the Trojans would Fight On to the CFP. But after continually pressuring and battering Williams, the Utes overcame a two-touchdown deficit and steamrolled USC, 47-24, and went to the Rose Bowl for a second straight season.
The Utes lost both Rose Bowls — one to Ohio State and the other to Penn State — but let’s not lose sight of the accomplishment. Utah has reached a sustainable level of success for more than 20 years despite only having 64 players drafted since 2005. For context, Michigan has had 116 selected in that time, 82 of which came under (or were recruited by) Harbaugh.
No coach has consistently won more with less talent than Whittingham. The first few years in a new conference have proven the most challenging in the past, but history suggests it’s inevitable he’ll return Michigan to the top of the Big Ten.
Michigan football coach Kyle Whittingham talks spring practice
Michigan football coach Kyle Whittingham talks spring practice at Schembechler Hall in Ann Arbor on Thursday, April 9, 2026.
This is part three of a three-part series ranking Michigan football’s toughest games in the 2026 season, the first under new coach Kyle Whittingham. Part 1 and part 2 can be found here.
No. 4: Oklahoma (Sept. 12, noon, Fox)
The first evidence that Michigan football’s 2025 campaign might not be what fans hoped came Week 2 in Norman, Oklahoma, when the Wolverines lost 24-13 in Bryce Underwood’s first road start. While the game is at home this year, the Sooners’ trip to Ann Arbor in the second week of the year will likely be telling about which way the season is headed.
Oklahoma had the No. 17 transfer portal class in the country this past offseason, per 247Sports, bringing in 16 players from schools like Texas, Florida, Tennessee and even Michigan. Linebacker Cole Sullivan leaving for OU to take a spot in the middle of Brent Venables’ defense was perhaps the biggest portal loss the Wolverines suffered all offseason.
On offense, wide receivers Parker Livingstone (Texas) and Trell Harris (Virginia) and tight end Jack Van Dorselaer (Tennessee) are three more weapons for an Oklahoma offense looking to take the next step.
One reason to believe it will is the return of quarterback John Mateer, who carved Michigan up last season and is the key to another solid Oklahoma team. Mateer threw for 270 yards, ran for 74 and accounted for all three touchdowns in Oklahoma’s win over Michigan before an injury sidelined him for the middle portion of the season and slowed him the rest of the way as he fought through it.
Oklahoma came in at No. 9 on The Athletic’s top-25 rankings after spring ball and is a notably difficult test, particularly so early in the season.
No. 3: Indiana (Oct. 24, kickoff time TBD)
The only reason Indiana is not higher on this list is because Michigan gets the game in Ann Arbor.
Outside of that, this is going to be an absolute battle. The defending national champion Hoosiers lost eight starters to the NFL this past season, including No. 1 overall pick and Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza, but have once again reloaded under Curt Cignetti, who has orchestrated the greatest turnaround the sport has ever seen.
In come quarterback Josh Hoover (TCU), running back Turbo Richard (Boston College) and wide receiver Nick Marsh (Michigan State) to restock the offensive supply and pair with wideout Charlie Becker. On defense, the Hoosiers return defensive tackle Tyrique Tucker, linebackers Isaiah Jones and Rolijah Hardy and corner Jamari Sharpe.
Hoover is yet another proven quarterback, coming to Bloomington after four years at TCU and enters as the nation’s leader in career passing yards (9,629). Hoover ran the second most RPO’s of any quarterback last year, behind only Mendoza, so he appears to fit the scheme.
According to CBS Sports, Indiana’s roster is No. 8 in cumulative FBS snaps played (30,540) and No. 4 in FBS level starts (462), so this should be a veteran group playing for a scheme that’s proven to work. An argument could be made this is U-M’s toughest game.
No. 2: at Oregon (Nov. 14, kickoff time TBD)
Michigan makes its first trip to Autzen Stadium as Big Ten foes − the only remaining stadium in the league it has not played as league opponents is UCLA in the Rose Bowl − against an Oregon side that has, per usual, reloaded.
It started with the decision of former five-star quarterback out of Detroit King, Dante Moore, who opted to spurn the NFL where he was expected to be a top-five draft pick, to return for one more year in the NCAA ranks. He will be buoyed by Evan Stewart, one of the top wide receivers in the country, who returns after missing the 2025 season with a torn patellar tendon in his knee.
There are new faces leading both the offense and the defense after last year’s offensive coordinator, Will Stein, took the head coach job at Kentucky and defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi took over as head coach of California. Dan Lanning opted to keep a semblance of continuity and promote from within for both positions, with Drew Mehringer now leading the attack and Chris Hampton in charge of the defense.
Oregon brought in 13 players through the portal this year including a pair of Big Ten defensive standouts in cornerback Aaron Scott Jr. (Ohio State) and safety Koi Perich (Minnesota).
Oregon made the CFP national semifinal last season before it was routed by Indiana (both of Oregon’s losses last season came to the Hoosiers) and now appears poised to get back to the playoffs at the very least.
This is just about as tough as games come.
No. 1: at Ohio State (Nov. 28, noon, Fox)
As if there was any doubt about who would finish off this list, it is of course the Buckeyes.
Ohio State led the way with 11 selections in the 2026 NFL Draft, which included four first-rounders and three second-rounders, but the NFL factory in Columbus, simply reloads every offseason. OSU returns its starting quarterback, Julian Sayin, running back Bo Jackson and the undisputed top wide receiver in the country, Jeremiah Smith.
They also brought in a number of stars from the portal in running back Ja’Kobi Jackson (Florida), edge Qua Russaw (Alabama) and defensive backs Earl Little Jr. (Florida State) and Dominick Kelly (Georgia), not to mention five-star freshman wide receiver Chris Henry Jr.
OSU landed the No. 2 freshman class in the nation and the No. 7 portal haul in the country as the Buckeyes, who were stunned by Miami in the national semifinal, look to get back to the national championship for the second time in three seasons.
Michigan has won the past two games in Columbus − a 45-23 pummeling in 2022 and then a 13-10 stunner for the ages in 2024 − but have not won three straight games at OSU since doing so from 1986-90 under Bo Schembechler and Gary Moeller.
All eyes, as always, will be on this game and there’s a decent chance (like last season) U-M will be playing for a spot in the CFP with this game deciding its fate.
Tony Garcia is the Michigan beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
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