Historic Michigan News Announced Before NCAA Tournament

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Will Chesanek | Last updated Mar 16, 2026 3:48 PM ET

Yaxel Lendeborg and the Michigan Wolverines have dominated their competition all season. Finishing the regular season with a 31-3 record, including 19-1 in conference play, the Wolverines enter the NCAA tournament as the No. 1 seed in the Midwest region. Michigan comes into the tournament losing its most recent matchup in the Big Ten Championship game against the Purdue Boilermakers, 80-72. The Wolverines will face the winner of the "First Four" matchup between Howard vs. UMBC on Thursday.

Michigan is a team with tremendous depth, with eight players averaging seven points per game or more. Senior forward Lendeborg leads the team in minutes per game at 30.2, points per game at 14.6, and steals per game at 1.2. Sophomore forward Morez Johnson Jr. leads the team in rebounding at 7.2 per game, with junior guard Elliot Cadeau leading the team in assists per game at 5.6.

Michigan ripped through Big 10 conference play, including notable wins against the No. 24 USC Trojans, the No. 5 Nebraska Cornhuskers, the No. 7 Purdue Boilermakers, top-ten Michigan State Spartans (twice) and the No. 10 Illinois Fighting Illini. Their lone regular-season conference loss was against the Wisconsin Badgers on Jan 10th by a final score of 91-88.

On Saturday, Michigan avenged its early-season loss to Wisconsin, defeating the Badgers 68-65 in the Big Ten semifinals. With that victory, Michigan made some conference history, becoming the first team in conference history to beat 17 Big Ten teams in a single season.

The Big Ten expanded to 18 teams in the 2024-2025 season, and the Wolverines are the first school to have a win against every conference opponent, and they will look to carry their positive momentum into the tournament.

"Only team in history to beat all 17 Big Ten teams in one season."