The Michigan Wolverines celebrate their NCAA men's basketball tournament national championship victory Monday, April 6, 2026, after defeating the UConn Huskies 69-63 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Christine Tannous/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Iowa State Basketball Could Have Competed Against Michigan With Healthy Star

Originally posted on Iowa State Cyclones on SI
By Nick Ziegler | Last updated Apr 7, 2026 8:00 PM ET

The Michigan Wolverines capped off a great season with a win on Monday night against the UConn Huskies in the National Championship. However, even though they secured the victory, it didn’t come as easily as many expected.

Coming into the National Championship, the Wolverines looked like they were going to be going down as potentially one of the best teams of all time. They were running through opponents on their way toward the Final Four and were able to destroy the Arizona Wildcats to make the championship game.

While Michigan might have run through their opponents on their way to a national title, they did get to avoid the Iowa State Cyclones. As the number two seed in the Midwest Region, it was a fantastic season for Iowa State. They were ranked as high as number two in the country at one point this year and were able to put together some impressive showings along the way.

It felt like the Cyclones and Wolverines were destined to meet in the Elite 8, but an injury to star forward Joshua Jefferson altered Iowa State’s path for the worse. They ultimately lost to the Tennessee Volunteers in the Sweet 16. If their star was healthy, the outcome of that game would have likely been different, and it could have set up a great matchup.

Based on how the Huskies were able to cause some problems for the Wolverines in their matchup, the Cyclones might have been a matchup problem for them as well.

Iowa State Could Have Competed

Jeff Le-Imagn Images

When looking at what was a great season for Michigan, some of their struggles came against teams that played good defense and controlled the tempo of the game. The Wolverines are a team that wants to get up and down the court, but they struggled against some of the slower-paced teams this year, like the Nebraska Cornhuskers and UConn.

For the Cyclones, their pace, led by an excellent guard in Tamin Lipsey, could have caused problems for Michigan. Furthermore, the size of Michigan was clearly a problem for UConn, but the front court of Blake Buchanan and a healthy Jefferson could have combated that well.

While they likely would have been an underdog in the hypothetical matchup, there is reason to believe that, after how UConn was able to bother them, the Cyclones could have competed against the Wolverines in an Elite 8 matchup. Unfortunately, that will be a ‘what if’ matchup because of the injury to Jefferson.

This article first appeared on Iowa State Cyclones on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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