Michigan: 2026 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball National Champions

 

INDIANAPOLIS -- Before Michigan took the floor to face Gonzaga in the title game of the Players Era Championship back in November, Elliot Cadeau made a comment to his teammates.

"We're the best team ever assembled," Cadeau said at the time.

Michigan proceeded to go out and beat Gonzaga by 40.

From that point on, the Wolverines were the most dominant team in the country -- and they ended Monday the same way they looked all the way back on Thanksgiving Eve: as the best team in college basketball.

Michigan: 2024-25 Big Ten Men's Basketball Champions

 

Both Michigan and Wisconsin clearly showed signs of fatigue from playing their third day in a row. Big Ten basketball is rugged, and the wear of playing three consecutive days clearly showed. The battle tested Wolverines still found a way to win by a score of 59-53, capturing the Big Ten Tournament Championship to cap off an amazing run.

Shooting was abysmal and point-blank layups were less than guaranteed for most of the game. With their legs fatigued, both teams shot poorly from deep and the halftime score of 23-21 told the whole story. And while those struggles continued in the second half, it was the Wolverines who ultimately made enough plays to secure the win.

Here are three takeaways from Michigan's Big Ten Tournament Championship victory over Wisconsin:

1. The win may not affect Michigan for the NCAA Tournament

Michigan was predicted as the last 4-seed in the tournament prior to the Big Ten Championship game. Most pundits agreed that, regardless of the result, Michigan would stay in that 4-seed spot. They could sneak into a 3-spot with the win, but that seems unlikely. One of the biggest positives of the tournament run is the Wolverines staying healthy. Duke saw two of their stars suffer injuries in their conference tournament. Going into the NCAA tournament healthy is critical for a team like Michigan with less bench depth.

2. Vlad Goldin and Danny Wolf have to be willing to take over

While fatigue was certainly a factor, Goldin and Wolf struggled mightily in the first half of this game. Michigan will have a tough time putting together a deep run in the NCAA tournament if that becomes a consistent issue. Goldin missed quite a few point-blank shots, and Wolf seemed lost and out of rhythm in the first half. For teams to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament, the stars have to perform and be willing to take over. Hopefully, after some rest, Goldin and Wolf can get back to dominating.

3. Three-point shooting remains an issue

Wisconsin shot under 20 percent from three and Michigan was not much better shooting below 30 percent. Elite guard play and timely three-point shooting are a key aspect to NCAA Tournament success, and the Wolverines have struggled as of late from behind the arc. Again, fatigue was a factor in this game and some rest could mitigate much of that in the coming days. The maize and blue certainly have some capable three-point shooters in Donaldson, Burnett and even Wolf. If they can rest and reset before the NCAA Tournament, that three-point prowess could propel a deep run.

Michigan struggled in close games early in the season. But those struggles turned into a strength in the latter half of the season, as the Wolverines became comfortable in close games and consistently made the right plays at the right time to pull out victories. Going into the NCAA Tournament, all of those close games will bode well for the the maize and blue. Big Ten Tournament Champions once again, an amazing first year for new head coach Dusty May continues.

Michigan: 2024 ReliaQuest Bowl Champions

 

TAMPA, Fla. -- — A year removed from winning the national championship, Michigan finished its first season under Sherrone Moore with a victory setting the tone for a bright future.

Moore replaced Jim Harbaugh after the former Wolverines coach left for the NFL's Los Angeles Chargers last winter. He called Tuesday's 19-13 victory over Alabama in the ReliaQuest Bowl a total team effort that bodes well for the Wolverines moving forward.

“We’ve got a great culture and great kids,” Moore said. "No one person wins a game ... no two people. It’s always going to be a team sport.”

Michigan's defense sacked Jalen Milroe five times and forced three turnovers by the Alabama quarterback. ReliaQuest Bowl MVP Jordan Marshall rushed for 100 yards on 23 carries to help the Wolverines dominate time of possession.

Dominic Zvada kicked four field goals and Davis Warren threw a first-half touchdown pass to Fredrick Moore as Michigan (8-5) finished the season on a three-game winning streak that included back-to-back upsets of rival Ohio State and Alabama.

“We were 5-5 and then we won some games, but it’s not the standard,” Marshall said. "We’re going to be better than this next year.”

Alabama's season ended with a loss to Michigan for the second year in a row. The Wolverines and the Crimson Tide (9-4, No. 11 CFP) met in a College Football Playoff semifinal at last season's Rose Bowl, with Michigan winning on the way to capturing the national championship.

Tuesday's loss ended Alabama's string of 16 consecutive seasons with double-digit wins. Kalen DeBoer inherited the streak from seven-time national championship-winning coach Nick Saban, who retired after last season.

“Every time you’re in the locker room and you have something like this, it’s disappointing. But I think there’s a lot of things that you take from it,” DeBoer said, reflecting on his first season with the Crimson Tide.

“So to me, it’s a success if we move forward and we take advantage of the lessons (learned this season), even though we don’t want to learn those lessons sometimes, because they’re hard,” DeBoer added. "We’re going to learn from those lessons, move forward and be better next year because of it.”

Milroe shrugged off a disastrous first quarter that was played almost exclusively in Alabama territory during heavy rain that sent many in the crowd at Raymond James Stadium scurrying for cover. The Crimson Tide had a chance to win it in the closing minutes but turned the ball over on downs after driving to the Michigan 15.

Milroe lost two fumbles and threw an interception on three of Alabama's first four drives. The fourth possession ended badly, too, with Milroe being sacked for an 11-yard loss at the Crimson Tide 44 on fourth-and-4.

Michigan, however, was able to turn the blunders into only 16 points — Warren's TD pass to Moore and field goals of 45, 30 and 21 yards for a 16-0 lead.

Milroe cut into Alabama's deficit with a 25-yard TD pass to Robbie Ouzts, then ran for 41 yards and threw to Germie Bernard for 40 on back-to-back plays to set up Graham Nicholson's 24-yard field goal just before halftime.

Michigan defense made the narrow halftime lead stand until Zvada's 37-yard field goal put the Wolverines up 19-10 midway through the fourth quarter. Alabama countered with Nicholson's 51-yarder to make it a one score game again with 4:38 to go.

Milroe finished 16 of 32 passing for 192 yards, one TD and an interception.

Warren was 9 of 12 for 73 yards without an interception before limping off the field after being sacked early in the third quarter. Alex Orji finished up at quarterback for the Wolverines.

Takeaways

Michigan pressured Milroe all day long, and the Crimson Tide never fully recovered from the quarterback's early mistakes.

Up next

Michigan: Opens next season on Aug. 30 at home vs. New Mexico following a highly anticipated competition for the starting quarterback job. The nation's No. 1 high school recruit, Bryce Underwood, practiced with the Wolverines for the ReliaQuest Bowl and was on the sideline Tuesday as an early enrollee. The competition also will include Fresno State transfer Mikey Keene.

Alabama: The Crimson Tide opens their second season under DeBoer on the road on Aug. 30 at Florida State. One question heading into the offseason is who will take the first snap at quarterback. Milroe hasn't said if he'll enter the NFL draft or return to school.

Michigan: 2023 College Football Playoff National Champions

 

No. 1 Michigan dominated No. 2 Washington on the ground in the first quarter and allowed itself to be contained for half the game before finishing the fourth quarter exactly as it started the game. The Wolverines piled up a history-making 303 yards rushing while obliterating the Huskies on both lines of scrimmage in a 34-13 victory to capture the 2024 College Football Playoff National Championship in Houston and bring a ring back to Ann Arbor, Michigan, for the first time since 1997.

Running back Blake Corum led the way for the maize & blue with 134 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 21 touches, but it was Donovan Edwards -- barely contributing all season while dealing with injuries -- who broke loose for two first-quarter touchdowns and totaled 104 yards on six carries. Michigan's 303 yards rushing were not only more than Washington's total yardage in the game (301), it was the most yards on the ground by a national title winner in the BCS/CFP era (since 1998).

Corum and Edwards became the first teammates to each rush for 100+ yards in a national championship since Eddie Lacy and T.J. Yeldon of Alabama in the 2013 BCS Championship Game and the first duo to also rush for two touchdowns each since Mark Ingram II and Trent Richardson of Alabama in the 2010 BCS title game. Meanwhile, Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy compiled the fewest yards passing by a winning signal caller (140) since Greg McElroy's 58 yards for the Crimson Tide in that 2010 BCS title game.

For Wolverines coach Jim Harbaugh, hoisting the CFP trophy Monday night was a feather in the cap of the ultimate Michigan Man who carried on many tenets injected into the program by his former coach, the legendary Bo Schembechler. Harbaugh, who struggled to beat Ohio State across his first six seasons at Michigan, has now taken down his program's arch rival in three straight seasons, winning as many Big Ten Championship Games and now a national title.

Monday night also concludes a controversy-filled season in which Harbaugh spent six games away from Michigan while serving three-game suspensions that bookended the campaign, one instituted by U-M amid potential NCAA violations and another handed down by the Big Ten amid allegations of improper sign stealing.

A week after surviving an overtime battle against No. 4 Alabama in the Rose Bowl for its first CFP semifinal victory in three tries, Michigan was pushed again Monday night. Washington rallied from an early 17-3 deficit and had the ball with a chance to tie the game early in the fourth quarter. However, after a defensive stand, the Wolverines marched 71 yards on just five plays with Corum's second score, a 12-yard run, pushing Michigan ahead 27-13 with 7:09 remaining.

Washington's top-ranked passing offense struggled to gain traction as Michigan's top-ranked defense proved to be the superior unit. Huskies star quarterback Michael Penix Jr. was intercepted twice with the second a game-sealing pick and 81-yard return from cornerback Mike Sainristil with 3:37 remaining. Corum put the finishing touches on Michigan's title win with a 7-yard touchdown run two plays later.

Penix, the runner up in 2023 Heisman Trophy voting, finished 27-of-51 passing for 255 yards in his final college game after leading the Huskies to 21 straight victories over the past two seasons. His pinpoint accuracy and electric play fueled Washington all year, but Penix and his star-studded pass catchers were off their games Monday night with the quarterback sailing passes and his wide receivers dropping multiple balls in key situations.

Michigan won its first national championship since 1997 (split with Nebraska) and first undisputed crown of the modern era

This is the Wolverines' 10th national title in program history

Michigan became the first No. 1 seed to beat a No. 2 seed in the CFP National Championship (1-3)

U-M is the second Big Ten team to win a CFP (Ohio State, 2014)

The Wolverines are the first Big Ten team to win 15+ games since the University of Chicago in 1899

McCarthy is now 27-1 in his career as a starter (third-best winning percentage as starting QB in FBS history)

Michigan is 40-3 over the last three seasons after going 2-4 in the COVID-19 shortened 2020 campaign

Washington's 21-game winning streak was snapped; it was the longest active streak in the FBS

Corum rushed for a touchdown in all 15 games this season

Michigan: 2024 Rose Bowl Champions

 It was an up-and-down game but the final result was euphoric for the Michigan Wolverines against Alabama in the Rose Bowl. Michigan won 27-20 in overtime and is headed to the national championship in Houston.

Here are key takeaways from Michigan’s win.

Michigan’s defense was ferocious and had an epic goal-line stand in OT

Michigan’s defense made Alabama’s offense one-dimensional. Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe had limited success through the air, throwing for just 116 yards on the day. While Milroe made some great plays with his legs, he also turned the ball over on a fumble and was sacked a whopping six times by Michigan’s defense. Five of those sacks came in the first half, which is tied for the most in a half in the Nick Saban era. Michigan held Alabama to just 3-of-13 on third down and to 288 total yards. And with Michigan up 27-20 in overtime, the defense had an incredible goal-line stand which ended on a 4th and goal from the three-yard line where Milroe was stuffed on a run up the middle. There were many heroes on defense — Junior Colson had 10 tackles, Michael Barrett had nine and a sack, Mike Sainristil had some big hits and great coverage, Braiden McGregor had two sacks, Jaylen Harrell had a sack, Josaiah Stewart had a sack, Kris Jenkins and Derrick Moore both had sacks. It took cohesion from the defense for Michigan to win, and it was an epic performance down the stretch.

Michigan’s offense gets going late and turns the tide

Michigan took a 13-10 lead into halftime, but after neither team scored in the third quarter Alabama scored ten unanswered points to go up 20-13 on the Wolverines. Things were getting dire for Michigan, time was running out, and they had to score with time ticking down. A 35-yard pass from J.J. McCarthy to Blake Corum on 4th and 2 with 3;19 left in the game kept Michigan’s hopes alive. Then McCarthy rushed for 16 yards, Roman Wilson had a 29-yard reception and Wilson would score two plays later on a four-yard TD to tie the game at 27-7. In overtime, it was a quick and heavy dose of ground and pound from Blake Corum to give Michigan a 27-20 lead on a 17-yard rushing TD.

For every play that didn’t generate positive yardage, for every third-down Michigan didn’t convert (2-off-11 on the day), the offense made incredible plays happen and played inspired football, including McCarthy, who threw for 221 yards and three touchdowns. Roman Wilson had just four catches, but they were huge ones and totaled 73 yards. Blake Corum had a gritty 83 yards rushing and had heroic runs. The offensive line allowed just one sack after giving up four sacks to Iowa in the Big Ten Championship. Tyler Morris had the first touchdown of his career on a 38-yard reception. Just like Michigan’s defense, it took huge plays from multiple players on Michigan’s offense to get the job done.

The win silences the haters

Pundits have picked against Michigan in every big matchup this season. Penn State. Ohio State. And now against Alabama. It hasn’t turned out very well for them, and they have egg on their face, to say the least. Michigan hadn’t won a bowl game since 2015 until the Rose Bowl win on Monday. Michigan lost in the College Football Playoff semifinal in back-to-back years heading into the Rose Bowl. There was the narrative that the SEC would steamroll Michigan. There was the dynamic that Nick Saban was the best head coach ever and Jim Harbaugh had no chance of beating him. At some point, Michigan’s biggest detractors who have prestigious jobs in the media should own up to their bias against Michigan and admit they underestimated not only the talent of the Michigan team but the brotherhood within the locker room as well.

The job is not finished

Michigan’s accomplished a whole heck of a lot this season, but they still haven’t won their biggest game of the season. Sorry Ohio State, that Michigan-OSU rivalry is huge, but the national championship is substantially bigger. Multiple Michigan players spoke about the team having a Houston or bust mentality the entire season. Houston is where the national championship is being held. Well, now the Wolverines are headed to Houston on a business trip. This week of preparation is huge, as their opponent, Washington, has a prolific offense and a good defense as well. Washington’s undefeated and presents a huge challenge, a challenge Michigan gladly accepts.

Michigan: 2022 Big Ten Football Champions

 INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Donovan Edwards ran for 185 yards and a score, J.J. McCarthy threw three touchdown passes and No. 2 Michigan beat Purdue 43-22 on Saturday night for its second straight Big Ten title and a likely No. 2 playoff seed.

College football’s winningest program has the first 13-win season in school history. Two more victories would give the Wolverines (13-0, No. 2 CFP) their first national championship since 1997.

And with injured star Blake Corum sidelined by a season-ending left knee injury, Edwards stole the show for the second straight week.

After shredding rival Ohio State for 216 yards and two scores last week, Edwards broke open this game with a 60-yard on the first play of the second half to set up one score. He added a 27-yard TD sprint on Michigan’s next series to make it 28-13.

Purdue (8-5) never recovered from Michigan’s quick, seven-play onslaught after it trailed 14-13 at halftime.

But quarterback Aidan O’Connell and receiver Charlie Jones helped the Boilermakers make it interesting for a while.

O’Connell was 32 of 47 with 366 yards and two interceptions after missing some practice time early this week to mourn the death of his oldest brother. Jones, who lost to Michigan in last year’s game while playing for Iowa, had 13 receptions for 162 yards.

It just wasn’t enough.

Michigan showed no signs of a hangover after last week’s rout over the Buckeyes, taking a 7-0 lead on its opening possession with a 25-yard TD pass from McCarthy to Colston Loveland.

Purdue answered with Devin Mockobee’s 1-yard scoring run to tie the score then took the lead on Mitchell Fineran’s 33-yard field goal.

Michigan answered by taking advantage of an offside call on fourth-and-6 by going for the first down, picking it up and eventually converting the drive into a 7-yard TD pass from McCarthy to Luke Schoonmaker. They never trailed again.

Edwards big run set up Kalel Mullings’ 1-yard TD plunge before Edwards celebrated his own scoring run.

All Purdue could muster was three more field goals.

McCarthy was 11 of 17 with 161 yards and one interception.

Corum posted a message on Twitter on Saturday morning to say his knee surgery went well.

THE TAKEAWAY

Purdue: The Boilermakers’ magical season ended with a solid showing in the championship game where they played better than most expected. Still, they won the Big Ten’s wild, wild West, both trophy games and should be bound for a warm-weather bowl game.

Michigan: Yes, the Wolverines may have already locked up a top-two seed thanks to losses by Southern Cal and TCU. Michigan now has back-to-back conference crowns for the first time since 2003-04 though the hard part remains — ending its national title drought.

DIALING UP TRICKERY

Purdue head coach Jeff Brohm played one season in the now defunct XFL and has acknowledged that experience helped him understand how to inject personality and creativity into play calling. It was on full display Saturday.

A surprise end around set up Purdue’s first score, a fake punt helped keep its second scoring drive alive and then Mockobee sprinted 25 yards on a fake flea-flicker in the third quarter.

Michigan: 2017-18 Big Ten Men's Basketball Champions

NEW YORK –- The man whom teammates sometimes refer to as the "Big Sleep" was wide awake Sunday night at center court in Madison Square Garden. Jon Teske, Michigan's soft-spoken 7-footer, pounded his chest and hollered at a crowd chanting his name after a thunderous dunk that served as the emphatic climax of his team's second consecutive Big Ten tournament championship.

Teske's two-handed finish gave the Wolverines an 18-point lead over Purdue with six minutes to play in the title game. For Teske, it capped a 14-point performance in a 75-66 win for a sophomore who is typically content to linger in the shadows of a team full of burgeoning personalities. For Michigan, it capped a stretch of four wins in four days that removed any doubt that it will enter the NCAA tournament as one of the nation's hottest and most dangerous teams.

Michigan finished fifth in the Big Ten regular-season standings but has lost only once since February began. The Wolverines have nine straight victories, including the last two against the league's top teams -- Purdue and rival Michigan State, the group traditionally known for peaking at this time of year.

Coach John Beilein has made a strong case for Mr. March in the past two years. His teams are 11-2 in the postseason during that time as he adjusts to the skills and personalities that reveal themselves during the course of a season.

"We had all new leadership," Beilein said when comparing this year's tournament champs to the 2017 team. “Players had to step up. I think it wasn't until we got almost to February that our coaching staff just figured out a little bit what we could do and what we could expect."

What Michigan can expect now is energy by the bucketful. And more than any team Beilein has coached in Ann Arbor, that energy has been infectious on both ends of the floor.

Teske's big dunk sent freshman Jordan Poole dancing toward center court to meet him and sophomore Zavier Simpson -- a feisty point guard who has taken the reins of this team in the past month -- flexing close behind them. Moe Wagner, Michigan's more established big man and energy provider, couldn't contain his smile. A few minutes earlier, he had knocked down back-to-back 3s in dramatic fashion to stretch Michigan's lead to double digits and make the final 10 minutes more of a celebration than a stressful race to the finish line.


The Wolverines have lost just once since February began. AP Photo/Julie Jacobson
Beilein said the mutual trust that has served as the foundation of his team's emerging identity took time to develop this season. With Simpson especially, there was a feeling-out process while the sophomore worked his way from a backup role earlier this season to a driving force for their current run. His defense helped change the dynamic of Saturday's semifinal win against Michigan State. Then he scored 10 points and added five assists (including the pass that unleashed Teske's slam) in the championship game against Purdue.

"We're pretty confident," Simpson said Sunday night. "We've just got to keep playing and keep doing smart things."

The trick for Michigan will be keeping that momentum rolling during an unprecedented break in action. It will be at least 11 days before the Wolverines take the court for their next game, thanks to a conference tournament that played out a week early so it could reserve Madison Square Garden as its stage.

These will be uncharted waters for all four Big Ten teams likely to be playing in the NCAA tournament later this month. While it's a thin group of participants for the conference, all four have the potential to do some damage. Michigan State remains among the country's most talented groups. Purdue can string together wins when its inside-outside attack is taking advantage of both dimensions. Ohio State features one of the country's breakout stars in Keita Bates-Diop. And, of course, Michigan has emerged as sharpest of that group the past week in New York.

"It's going to be kind of weird, but we've got to embrace it," Simpson said when asked how he plans to handle the long layoff. "We'll do the smart things in that time to get better."

A long rest could be a help to some. Beilein was quick to point out that plenty of teams that usually get their conference tournament done early have punched above their weight class in the NCAA tournament in past years. He conceded that it would be nice to keep the good times rolling right now, but he is no position to argue with the benefits of having more time.

"In a perfect world that would be great [to keep playing]," Beilein said. "But playing in this arena in front of that crowd, which I feel like was very pro-Michigan, that's a once-in-a-lifetime experience for us. I think it'll be worth the wait."

If the past couple of seasons have taught Beilein's teams anything, it should be that patience is often rewarded.

Michigan: 2016-17 Big Ten Men’s Basketball Champions

Michigan won the Big Ten men’s basketball tournament on Sunday, capping a four-game run to the finish by beating Wisconsin, 71-56, in Washington, D.C. It comes on the heels of a season in which Michigan wasn’t that good and a week that started with what could’ve been a devastating plane crash. Now the Wolverines are champions.

Their plane to Washington last Wednesday was blown off the runway in Ypsilanti, Mich., causing a scare but thankfully no debilitating injuries. The Wolverines arrived in Washington a few hours before beating Illinois by 20 points in their first-round game on Thursday, which they had to play in practice uniforms.

Then the No. 8 Wolverines kept winning: by four points in overtime against top seed Purdue, by seven against No. 4 Minnesota, and then in the final against No. 2 Wisconsin. They were the lower seed in the last three games.

Michigan was an underdog, not because of its travel nightmare but because of its season before that. The Wolverines were 10-8 in Big Ten play in the regular season, and they spent much of the year looking like a fringy NCAA tournament team. But they turned things on a bit in the last month of the regular season, and they should head into the Dance with tons of confidence.

The championship game came down to Michigan’s efficient offense. The unit’s been one of the best in the country all year, even as the defense has often lagged. Against Greg Gard’s elite Wisconsin defense, Michigan shot 55 percent from the field. Veterans Derrick Walton Jr., Zak Irvin, and D.J. Wilson had strong scoring afternoons, and Wisconsin’s offense didn’t have the juice to keep pace with them.

The Big Ten had a weird, mostly bad year. It didn’t have a single elite team, with the possible exception of the Purdue team that lost its first tournament game to Michigan. It didn’t have a serious national player of the year candidate, and it often felt like there was no difference between the second- and eighth-best teams in the league. After this tournament, it’s still hard to peg the NCAA prospects of so many.

But none of that’s on Michigan. The Wolverines were an ordinary Big Ten team with a great offense in a down Big Ten year, and they emerged when nobody else did. This four-game tournament run should go down as one of John Beilein’s most impressive coaching jobs yet in Ann Arbor.

Conference results don’t mean anything in the NCAA tournament. But I wouldn’t want my school to play Michigan later this week, and I suspect you wouldn’t, either.

Michigan Wolverines: 2016 Citrus Bowl Champions

Orlando, Fla. — Mark Schlissel, the University of Michigan president, didn’t see it coming.

As he stood on a portable stage inside the Orlando Citrus Bowl Stadium, with some 25,000 Michigan fans cheering in the stands and a victorious football team celebrating all around, there was an explosion behind him. And, quite naturally, he flinched.

“This is the first time I’ve been hit in the back of the head by a confetti cannon,” he explained later, laughing as he shook the last of the debris from his hair. “You know, if I was a real pro, I would know to stand a bit more to the right. I was a rookie.”

Understandably so, this being his first bowl trip as the university president. But exactly 18 months after assuming that post, and a year after the hiring of Jim Harbaugh as football coach was announced, Schlissel was beaming Friday after Michigan throttled Florida, 41-7, in the Citrus Bowl to cap a successful season.

“It’s exciting,” said Schlissel, who shared a hug and a few words with Harbaugh as he left the stage. “The kids worked so hard. The community cared so intensely. The alumni continued to support the team in good times and bad. And this is a great culmination of a fantastic year. A 10-win season. First year for the coach. More than anybody expected.”

And more than anything, Friday’s victory helped validate much of what we’ve seen in Harbaugh’s first year at his alma mater, from the tough, physical play on the field to the renewed energy in the stands.

The Wolverines certainly did exceed expectations, coming off a 5-7 season and the firing of Brady Hoke last fall. Friday’s bowl victory was Michigan’s first since the end of the 2011 season, and the third since 2002. And with the 10-3 finish, Harbaugh became the third coach in school history to win 10 games his first season.

That alone doesn’t mean much. (The other two — Hoke and Fielding Yost — don’t have a lot in common.) And Michigan needs no reminders it lost to its chief rivals again this season, dropping a heartbreaker on the final play to eventual Big Ten champ Michigan State and then getting drop-kicked again at home by Ohio State.

“We’re not saying this is the greatest year in the history of Michigan football,” Harbaugh said, doing his best to put it all in perspective. “But this team acquitted itself very well.”

Rudock’s best year

It was Harbaugh himself who had declared on New Year’s Eve this would be the “best year I’ve had in football” if the Wolverines could finish it off with a Jan. 1 victory over the Gators.

Friday, he wasn’t hedging one bit with that resolution.

“I thought long and hard before making that statement,” said Harbaugh, whose extended family was all on the field celebrating after the game. “And I told the team the same thing.”

At the postgame news conference, as Harbaugh was explaining all the reasons, he also turned to his quarterback, Jake Rudock, voted the game’s MVP after a “darn near flawless” performance, and asked him the same thing, “Jake, is this your best year in football?”

Rudock laughed, and replied, “Yeah, it’s hard to argue that.”

Indeed, it was, as Rudock, after losing his starting job at Iowa last January, opted to transfer for his fifth year as a graduate student, landing at Michigan in the spring and winning the No. 1 job in the fall.

By November, Harbaugh was calling him a “godsend” — citing his poise and his meticulous preparation — as the 22-year-old Florida native started rewriting the school record books. And after Friday’s 273-yard, three-touchdown day, Rudock, who says he’ll put off medical school to give the NFL a shot, sits No. 2 on the Wolverines' single-season list with 3,017 passing yards.

“The standard is just to play good, efficient football, and to do things right,” said Jedd Fisch, Michigan’s quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator. “And that’s what he does so well. He does things right, all of the time. It matters to him.”

This game mattered to all of them, though. That was obvious in the run-up, with spirited practices in the 80-degree Florida heat and a businesslike approach to the bowl, in spite of the Disney World surroundings.

And it showed Friday, as Michigan produced what Harbaugh called the team’s “most complete game of the season.”

The Wolverines scored on seven of their first eight possessions, while piling up more points and more yards (503) than the Gators had allowed all season. Michigan outgained Florida, 160-2, in the third quarter, and ended the game by running out the final 5 minutes 11 seconds on the clock.

“They took it to us, beat us up front,” Florida coach Jim McElwain, whose team also won 10 games this season, finished atop the SEC East and came in with the nation’s fourth-ranked defense.

Rushing returns

Yet, a Michigan running game that stalled late in the season looked suddenly rejuvenated, with the line opening holes and the backs — led by De’Veon Smith — exploding through them.

Smith finished with 25 carries for 109 yards, the first 100-yard effort for Michigan since a Sept. 19 romp of BYU, when he topped the century mark but also suffered a high-ankle sprain that nagged him for the next two months.

“De’Veon was a man possessed running the football,” Harbaugh said.

The defense was, too, even without injured star Jabrill Peppers, who sat out with a hand injury. Florida’s offense looked anemic late in the season, thanks to poor quarterback play and a porous line. And it did again Friday after an encouraging start, as Michigan held Florida to 28 yards and one first down after halftime.

In the end, it was simply a punishing performance by the Wolverines, which is exactly what the fans were promised when Harbaugh returned last winter.

“You saw the epitome of what he’s been trying to do since Day 1 when he got here in what was on the field today,” said linebacker Joe Bolden, one of the departing seniors. “It’s what he wants. It’s what you’ll see.”

And now that the Wolverines have found their footing, and know where to stand, joked Schlissel, “We’re thrilled to do this every year.”

john.niyo@detroitnews.com

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March Madness 2013: Louisville vs. Michigan

ATLANTA -- Russ Smith looked at the scoreboard, then at the clock, then over at the bench.

Louisville needed a run, but he had no idea where it was going to come from. The starters were struggling, the fouls were piling up and the only lift injured Kevin Ware could give the top-seeded Cardinals was an emotional one.

"It was like, 'Man,'" Smith said. "I was actually waiting for our run. And it happened. Luke exploded. That was actually what I was waiting for. Then Chane exploded. Then Peyton made a big layup. Then Tim Henderson. It just kept going and going."

And Louisville rode it all the way to the title game.

Luke Hancock scored 20 points off the bench, Henderson sparked a second-half rally with a pair of monster 3s, and Louisville reminded everyone it can grind it out, too, advancing to the NCAA title game after escaping with a 72-68 victory over Wichita State on Saturday night.

Louisville will play Michigan for the national title Monday night. It will be the Cardinals' first trip to the national championship game since 1986, when they won it all.

The Cardinals (34-5) have had this game in their sights since losing to Kentucky in last year's Final Four, and they got added motivation after Ware's tibia snapped during last weekend's Midwest Regional final, the bone poking through the skin.

Ware was on his feet when the final buzzer sounded, grinning and throwing his arms into the air.

"We've got to bring our best game," Ware said. "It's the last game of the season. If we lose, everything we've worked for just goes down the drain. That's the last thing we want right now."

Especially after such a close call against the ninth-seeded Shockers (30-9), who nearly pulled off their biggest upset of all.

Wichita State had knocked off No. 1 seed Gonzaga and No. 2 Ohio State on its way to its first Final Four since 1965, and the Shockers had a 12-point lead on Louisville with 13:35 to play. It was the largest deficit all tournament for the Cardinals, who seemed lost after the emotional week following Ware's gruesome injury.

But Louisville had come back to win five games after trailing by nine points or more already this year, including rallying from a 16-point deficit in the title game at the Big East tournament. Even coach Rick Pitino's horse, Goldencents, had to rally to win the Santa Anita Derby, and a spot in the Kentucky Derby, on Saturday.

This rally trumped them all.

"We just played super hard," said Smith, who led the Cardinals with 21 points. "Nobody wanted to go home."

Henderson, the walk-on who was forced into increased playing time because of Ware's injury, made those back-to-back 3s to spark a 21-8 run. While Hancock and Behanan were knocking down shots, Smith and Peyton Siva were turning up the heat on the Shockers, forcing them into seven turnovers in the final seven minutes after they'd gone more than 26 minutes without one.

The first came when Siva darted in to strip the ball away from Carl Hall. Siva fed Hancock, who drilled a 3 that gave Louisville a 56-55 lead, its first since the end of the first half.

"Down the stretch, we were just loose with the ball, we just didn't take care of it, pretty much," said Wichita State's Malcolm Armstead, who had just two points on 1-of-10 shooting. "I can't give you an explanation -- it just happened."

Cleanthony Early would give the Shockers one more lead, converting a three-point play. But Siva scored and then Smith stole the ball and took it in for an easy layup that gave Louisville a 60-58 lead with 4:47 left. Louisville fans erupted, and even Ware was on his feet, throwing up his arms and clapping. The Cardinals extended the lead to 65-60 on a tip-in of a Smith miss and another 3 by Hancock.

Wichita State had one last chance, pulling within 68-66 on Early's tip in with 22 seconds left. But the Shockers were forced to foul, and Smith and Hancock made their free throws to seal the victory.

As the final buzzer sounded, Chane Behanan tossed the ball high into the air and Henderson and Hancock did a flying shoulder bump at midcourt.

"It's just a mix of emotions, of feelings. It hurts to have to lose and be the end of the season," said Early, who led the Shockers with 24 points. "But these guys fought to the end, and we had a great season and keep our heads high and know the grind doesn't stop."

The Cardinals were the overall No. 1 seed in the tournament, and they steamrolled their way through their first four games, winning by an average of almost 22 points. They limited opponents to 59 points and 42 percent shooting while harassing them into almost 18 turnovers a game, setting an NCAA tourney record with 20 steals against North Carolina A&T.

The presence of Ware was supposed to provide even more motivation for Louisville. He urged his teammates to "just go win the game" before being wheeled off the court on a stretcher last weekend. Three days later, he joined the Cardinals as they made the trip to the Final Four in Atlanta, Ware's hometown.

The Cardinals have modified their warm-up T-shirts in Ware's honor -- they now read "Ri5e to the Occasion," with Ware's No. 5 on the back. He had a seat at the end of the bench, his right leg propped up on towels, and every one of the starters went to shake his hand after being introduced.

But whether it was the roller-coaster of the last week, the expectations or just Wichita State, the Cardinals seemed out of sorts much of the night. Wayne Blackshear and Gorgui Dieng went scoreless, and Siva was just 1-of-9.

"There's a reason our starters played poorly, because Wichita State is that good," Pitino said

Wichita State may not have the names or pedigree of a Louisville, Syracuse or Michigan. But what the Shockers lacked in star power they more than made up for in hustle and heart. This, after all, was a team with one player (Carl Hall) who salvaged his career after working in a light bulb factory and two more (Armstead and Ron Baker) who paid their own ways in their first years.

The Shockers barely seemed to notice that vaunted Louisville press until the final minutes of the game. They didn't rush shots, working it around until they got a look they liked -- Louisville was called for more than one foul late in the shot clock, including one on Smith with only a second left -- and they were relentless on the backboards.

And that "play angry" defense? Now the Cardinals have an idea of how their opponents have felt. Wichita State bottled Louisville up inside, never letting Gorgui Dieng be a factor, and the Cardinals were continually forced to put up awkward and bad shots from outside.

"We were kind of waiting to make our run," Hancock said. "Obviously you're a little concerned when you're down by 12 in the second half. We just had to turn up our intensity, maybe gamble a little more."

Louisville was struggling so badly that Ware actually got out of his seat at one point, hobbling over to the Louisville huddle.

"He just wanted to tell us that we needed to pick it up," Siva said. "We know how much it would mean for him to be out there. He just tried to give us whatever we needed, the extra motivation, the extra boost to get over the hump. That's what he did."

The Shockers have had trouble hanging onto leads, and this game was no different. After Henderson's 3s, the Cardinals were off and running, all the way to the last game of the season.

"Coach Pitino kept telling us to go out there and have fun and keep playing and we were going to win. Stop hanging our heads," Siva said.

"That's what we did."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Copyright by STATS LLC and The Associated Press

ATLANTA -- Michigan is more than just five fabulous players.

No, this is quite a team -- all the way down the roster.

Fearlessly attacking Syracuse's suffocating zone in the first half, getting big contributions off the bench, and hanging on for dear life at the end, the Wolverines advanced to the national championship game with a 61-56 victory over the Orange in the Final Four on Saturday night.

So put away those comparisons to the Fab Five.

This group of young stars is determined to leave its own legacy.

"We've been a team all year," said coach John Beilein, whose Wolverines were playing in the Final Four for the first time since 1993, when the Fab Five lost for the second straight time in the national title game. "It was great."

Michigan (31-7) will be going for its first national title since 1989 when it faces Louisville on Monday at the Georgia Dome. Syracuse (30-10) failed to complete an all-Big East final in the fabled league's last season before a major overhaul.

Louisville was established as a 4 1/2-point title game favorite.

Don't expect that to bother the brash young Wolverines a bit. They showed they could win even when their best weapon, Associated Press player of the year Trey Burke, was having a really ugly night.

He scored just seven points on 1-of-8 shooting.

"We know Trey is our leader, and sometimes he's not going to have a game like he's had all season," said Tim Hardaway Jr., who led Michigan with 13 points. "That's when our team stepped up."

Trailing 58-56, the Orange had a chance to force overtime. But Brandon Triche was called for a foul when Jordan Morgan stepped in to take the charge with 19.2 seconds left.

"Jordan is our best charge-taker," Beilein said. "He stood in there and took a good one."

After Jon Horford made only one of two free throws, Syracuse called timeout and set up a play. Curiously, the Orange didn't attempt a tying 3-pointer. Instead, Trevor Cooney drove the lane looking to put up an easier shot. But the ball was swatted away, Michigan saved it from going out of bounds and Morgan wound up taking a long pass the other way.

He threw down a thunderous slam with just over a second remaining to cap the triumph.

Triche blamed himself for driving the ball recklessly into the lane when Syracuse had a chance to tie it.

"I was just trying to make a play for the team," he said. "I probably should have made a better decision, probably should have pulled up for the jump shot. ... I did see him, but I figured, I was already in the air jumping."

With Burke struggling to get open looks and misfiring even when he did, Michigan got an unexpected contribution off the bench from freshmen Caris LeVert and Spike Albrecht.

LeVert scored eight points and Albrecht chipped in with six -- all of them crucial after the Wolverines went cold in the second half and struggled to put away the Orange.

"We had a lot of guys in there," Beilein said. "You never know who the outlier is, you never know who's going to come in and get that done."

Of course, there's nothing unusual about Michigan getting big performances from first-year players. This team starts three freshmen -- Glenn Robinson III, Mitch McGary and Nik Stauskas -- which, of course, rekindles memories of the great Fab Five teams.

These kids want nothing to do with the comparisons, saying they haven't done nearly enough to be mentioned in the same breath with a team that changed the face of college basketball.

Well, if the Wolverines can win their next game, they'll accomplish something that eluded the Fab Five: a national title.

Syracuse was looking to give 68-year-old Jim Boeheim another title, a decade after the Orange won it all in their last trip to the Final Four. Boeheim has no plans to retire, but his quest for a championship is on hold for another year.

"I told you I'm not going to answer that question unless you ask that of every coach," Boeheim snapped at a reporter when asked about his future. "I never indicated at any time that I'm not coming back."

Michigan won this game in the opening 20 minutes, doing exactly what it needed to do against Syracuse's suffocating 2/3 zone: knock down open 3s, crash the boards, and work the ball inside and out with crisp, rapid-fire passes.

"I thought we got off to a really bad start defensively in the first half," Boeheim said. "We just didn't have the movement that we've had, and Michigan took advantage of it. Our offense was not good in the first half or the second half. Second half, we got our defense going a lot better, and got back in the game in spite of our offense."

When Syracuse started extending its perimeter defense, looking to cut off the long-range shots, Michigan created an open look late in the half with a nifty bit of ball movement. Robinson -- like Hardaway, the son of a former NBA star -- took a pass, whipped it ball to LeVert, who dribbled a couple of times and fed the ball back to Robinson for an open 15-footer.

Nothing but net.

The Wolverines began to pull away from Syracuse even without much of a contribution from Burke. He finally scored his first points with just under a minute remaining in the first half, swishing a 3 from nearly the same spot on the court where he made the long shot that stunned top-seeded Kansas.

It would be Burke's only basket of the night.

"At the end of the day, it wasn't offense," he said. "A lot of us didn't have good shooting nights, but it was defense that allowed us to advance."

Burke came up huge in the South Regional, leading Michigan back from 14 points down with less than 7 minutes remaining against Kansas. He forced overtime with a long 3-pointer at the end of regulation, and Wolverines finished off the 87-85 upset in overtime.

Syracuse, meanwhile, had taken its trademark defense to new levels of stinginess in the NCAA tournament.

The Orange arrived in Atlanta having surrendered a paltry 45.75 points over four games, holding Montana (34), top-seeded Indiana (50) and Marquette (39) to their lowest scoring totals of the season. Overall, Syracuse's tournament opponents had combined to shoot just 28.9 percent from field (61 of 211) and 15.4 percent from 3-point range (14 of 91).

Syracuse was brimming with confidence heading into the Final Four, believing its zone could shut down the Wolverines and its more experienced lineup would take advantage of Michigan's youth.

But the Wolverines had more points by halftime than Montana, and nearly as many as Marquette managed in the regional final. Even though Hardaway missed a trey just before the buzzer sounded, Michigan sprinted off the court with a commanding 36-25 lead.

Syracuse didn't have enough offensive firepower to come all the way back, shooting just 42 percent (23 of 55).

C.J. Fair scored 22 points, doing his best to rally the Orange all by himself. But Triche, with 11 points, was the only other Syracuse player in double figures.

With Michigan's starters also struggling, the guys off the bench picked up the slack.

LeVert, who seemed headed for a redshirt early in the season and was known more for defense than offense, made a couple of 3-pointers in the opening half. He had connected just 11 times from that range coming into the Final Four.

Albrecht was another surprise. He, too, buried a couple of shots beyond the arc -- one of them going through from the corner while he was sliding on his backside toward the Syracuse bench. Coming into Atlanta, he had made only a dozen 3-pointers the entire season.

There's still another game to go.

"It's going to be a great matchup," said McGary, one of those Michigan freshmen. "They're a team like Syracuse that also plays in Big East and they remind me of VCU the way they trap and can turn over the ball, so it should be a great matchup."

The Wolverines routed VCU 78-53 in the second round of the tournament.

If they can win one more time, they'll have bragging rights on the Fab Five.

---

Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963

Copyright by STATS LLC and The Associated Press

March Madness 2013: Final Four!

Insanity! It’s all over the place, and it’s in the air tonight.

Why should the Bedlam be restricted to Baltic Avenue? It's all over the place. In this entry, I shall prove it.

On a weekend which saw a bus driver overreact in the name of a hairbrained vendetta against me, Long Beach Poly actually lose a game, the Los Angeles Galaxy actually win a game, and my Lakewood Lancers ignore my warning regarding their lead heading into the second half, some of the more craziest action happened in the college football world. More on the latter mentioned later.

First, Michigan. Oh dear. Those Oregon Ducks were riding on the coattails of Appalachian State’s victory. And they just humiliated an already smashed Big House, 39-7. Mike Hart said with his eyes bulging, “We will win next week, I will promise you.” On a weekend that saw Osama Bin Laden make an uncompelling argument about his organization’s motives (on the grounds that he and his Al-Qaeda brothers kill people of his own religion while promoting it to the brainwashed American youth of tomorrow in the name of shortening their already wretched lives), Mike Hart lost the game, lost the Heisman, and now he has lost his mind like Lola at the Copacabana. Barry Manilow, send help!

Meanwhile, the Mountaineers (no, not the guys who have the duo of Slaton and White, I’m talking about Armanti Edwards and the Boone boys) continue on their merry way, dismissing any cover jinx by Sports Illustrated, stomping Lenoir-Rhyne 48-7. Out in Happy Valley, Penn State polished off Notre Dame, setting up a pillow fight of questionable proportions (are there even any?).

Washington defeated Boise State today. We're gonna have to scout them. They will be tough when the end of the season comes.

Out in the prep football world, the Birmingham Patriots (no, they are not from Alabama, they are from Lake Balboa, in Los Angeles) defeat the Poly Jackrabbits, 20-7. So, Birmingham, can you please provide my Lancers (who choked in the 2^nd half against Tesoro, 24-21) some game film so we can study a way to actually beat Poly? Please?

The bedlam all over the southern United States continued. South Carolina is coached by Steve Spurrier, also known as the Ol’ Ball Coach. Which brings up the question: did Georgia even think that they had a chance against the Gamecocks? If they thought “Yes,” then someone out in Columbia deceptively lied to them. South Carolina won Between the Hedges, 16-12.

In Ruston, fans watched a shootout between Hawaii and Louisiana Tech. Colt Brennan, Davone Bess (who had a highlight on SportsCenter) and the guys called for a dogfight from Derek Dooley’s Louisiana Tech Bulldogs, and they got it. While Colt Brennan continued making big plays, it was Gerard Lewis that was clutch when it mattered. His stop of Louisiana Tech’s 2-point conversion that could have won the game increased his stock. I think he will play on Sundays. Hawaii won, 45-44. Lewis should have gotten that pick and sent it back, though, instead of batting it down. He’ll remember to do that next time when the opportunity comes against UNLV.

And South Florida defeated Auburn, 23-20. This was a team that started playing football a few decades ago, and they just beat Auburn, plain and simple. The Beasts from the Big East Conference are coming back.

Someone ring a dinner bell: the Galaxy actually won a game…without David Beckham. They defeated the Colorado Rapids, 3-1. Their season already wrecked, the Galaxy still know how to win. Yo. And at the Walter Pyramid, Long Beach State scalped the Florida State Seminoles in a sweep. It was fun being there. Those of you who saw it unfold, I don't need to explain it. It's all surreal, man.

I think the only thing that went wrong was the attitude of that bus driver. I have seen many annoying people come and go and comeback again, but this bus driver was the worst of them. I put this on the flame wars section of the forum on a club that I am active in, and man, it just became a riot. Although my friends’ colorful rebuttals to my posts lacked any logic, and were just lame attempts to hamfist them, it was in this section, so I had no choice but to take it with a grain of salt.

When I get desensitized to these types of bedlam, and get used to seeing this, I know that I am in America.