Michigan State Comes Out on Top in Elite Final to Boost Near-Championship Race
Michigan earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2021 on Sunday and will open play against the winner of a First Four matchup between Maryland-Baltimore County and Howard. The Wolverines (31-3) are the third overall seed behind Duke and Arizona and will be trying to win the Big Ten's first national championship since Michigan State in 2000.
This is the fourth time the Wolverines have earned a No. 1 seed. Juwan Howard’s 2021 team reached the Elite Eight, Steve Fisher’s 1993 team lost in the championship game and Bill Frieder’s 1985 team lost in the second round.
Michigan, with a win Thursday in Buffalo, New York, would advance to a second-round Midwest Region game against No. 8 seed Georgia (22-10) or No. 9 Saint Louis (28-5).
Led by Big Ten player of the year Yaxel Lendeborg , the Wolverines set a Big Ten record with 19 conference wins and ran away with the regular-season title by four games. They went into the conference tournament with an average winning margin of 19. 4 points per game but were pushed in Chicago, winning two games by a total of seven points before losing 80-72 to Purdue in the championship game.
The Wolverines are the betting favorite to win the national championship, at plus-325, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. Two wins would send them back to Chicago for a regional semifinal. ___ AP March Madness: https://apnews.