Winners and Losers of the 2026 Men's Final Four

After Connecticut's 71-62 win over Illinois and Michigan's 91-73 pummeling of Arizona, Monday night's men's college basketball national championship pairing at Lucas Oil Stadium is officially set.

Will it be Dynasty Dan Hurley and the Huskies winning their third title in four years?

Or do the Wolverines finally break the Big Ten's curse to become the conference's first national champion since Michigan State in 2000?

Before we look ahead, let's look back on the night of national semifinals that was by crowning Saturday's winners and losers.

Winner: UConn on the Defensive Glass

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Connecticut's Tarris Reed Jr.

When facing an Illinois team that ranks among the best offensive rebounding units in the nation, keeping second-chance opportunities to a minimum is of the utmost importance.

Connecticut was up to the challenge.

Illinois did end up grabbing 12 offensive rebounds, six in each half. However, the Illini only grabbed 30.7 percent of possible offensive rebounds, well below their season average of nearly 40 percent. And from those dozen offensive rebounds, they only managed to score six second-chance points.

At the forefront of Connecticut's prowess on the glass was Tarris Reed Jr., yet again. After going for 17 points and 11 rebounds in this one, he's now averaging 20.8 and 13.0, respectively, during this dominant run to his first title game.

But with these overinflated balls resulting in rebounds trampolining out to the three-point line, the backcourt also played a major role in the effort. In particular, Silas Demary Jr. was huge, finishing with nine boards, seven points and seven assists. The 6'4" point guard ended up with more rebounds than anyone on the Illinois roster.

Loser: Illinois Jump Shooting

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Amplifying the importance of Connecticut's defensive rebounding was Illinois' inability to make much of anything.

When shooting at least 35 percent from three-point range, the Illini were basically unbeatable this season. Unfortunately for them, that was only the case in 50 percent of games, even though 50 percent of their shots came from distance.

Classic "live by the three, die by the three" type of squad that died at the hands of UConn for the second time this season.

As a matter of fact, Illinois' two lowest scoring efforts of the season both came against the Huskies, as Dan Hurley really seems to have Brad Underwood's number.

Not only did Illinois shoot 6-for-26 from three-point range on Saturday night, but the Illini also missed all four of their two-point attempts from deeper than nine feet, going 7-for-19 on two-point attempts not classified as layups.

So much for being the most efficient offense in the country, eh?

Illinois also had a tough shooting night from downtown in the Elite Eight win over Iowa, but they made up for it by grabbing 16 of 29 possible offensive rebounds, shooting 61 percent inside the arc and holding the Hawkeyes below 60 points.

None of those factors went the Illini's way in this one.

Winner: Dan Hurley, Getting to Play the 'Nobody Believes in Us' Card

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You probably heard/thought it all week: Arizona vs. Michigan is the de facto national championship.

Well, you know who else definitely heard that nonsense and will definitely be using it as "nobody believes in us" bulletin board material for the next 48 hours?

Two-time national champion and master motivator, Dan Hurley.

Despite the pedigree of this UConn program, people have been picking against the Huskies all tournament long.

I had them losing to UCLA. And Michigan State. Duke, too. Especially Duke. Finally changed my tune and had them beating Illinois, but thought it would take a near miracle in overtime to do it.

But they just keep winning, because it's all Hurley, Alex Karaban and Co. know how to do.

Karaban is now 18-1 in the NCAA tournament in his career, tied with (poetically enough) Bobby Hurley for the second most wins in tournament history. He won't be able to catch Christian Laettner at No. 1 on that list with 21 wins, but Karaban does have a chance to become the first three-time national champion in more than half a century, matching what eight players managed to do during John Wooden's reign at UCLA.

Yet, somehow, here we are, with no one believing in this team.

Much to Hurley's delight.

Loser: Arizona's First Half Ball Security

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Arizona's Jaden Bradley

Steals are not usually Michigan's forte. The Wolverines entered the Final Four averaging 5.5 takeaways per game for the year, good for 310th in the nation. And the last time they recorded more than seven in a single contest was 19 games ago in late January.

Conversely, turnovers are usually not Arizona's Achilles' heel. In 25 games dating back to the start of Big 12 play, the Wildcats had averaged just 9.4 giveaways per game. Keeping those gifts to a minimum was a huge factor in that come-from-behind win over Purdue in the Elite Eight.

By halftime on Saturday night, though, Michigan had five steals (three by Elliot Cadeau), Arizona had nine turnovers (three on offensive fouls) and the Wolverines had scored 12 points off those turnovers in the process of opening up an effectively insurmountable lead.

Even beyond the official turnovers, though, Michigan just had Arizona all sorts of out of sync from the opening tip. The Wildcats settled for uncharacteristic shots, unable to deal with the Wolverines' size, even though Yaxel Lendeborg only played about five minutes between early foul trouble and a rolled ankle.

Winner: Michigan Wolverines Past, Present and Future

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Michigan's Aday Mara

It was a Fab night to be a Michigan fan, to put it lightly.

It was already going to be a special night for the Wolverine faithful, featuring a rare reunion of the Fab Five—Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson. The quintet which 35 years later is still regarded by many as the greatest recruiting class of all-time teamed up on the mic for the game's alternate broadcast on truTV.

As part of that broadcast, Michigan's recruiting haul for 2026-27 got even sweeter, with five-star shooting guard, Brandon McCoy Jr., committing to the Wolverines. Michigan already had a top-five recruiting class, per 247 Sports, but that addition probably vaults them to No. 2, behind only Duke.

Better than the memories of the past and dreams of the future, though, the present Wolverines decimated Arizona from start to finish, turning the ultimate matchup between KenPom Nos. 1 and 2 into a laugher.

Aday Mara was both unstoppable on offense and impenetrable on defense, going for 26 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two blocks. He also unofficially altered about a dozen Arizona shots at the rim, rendering a usually elite offense completely helpless.

Elliot Cadeau wasn't exactly efficient, shooting 5-for-17 and committing six turnovers, but he still had a hand in everything. The ultimate X-factor went for 13 points, 10 assists, five rebounds and four steals.

And Trey McKenney was massive off the bench, making four triples en route to 16 points. When Arizona threatened to make things interesting early in the second half, he took over to ensure Michigan makes it back to another national championship game.