Michigan took another step toward securing a No. 1 seed in the 2026 NCAA Tournament late Friday by beating Illinois 84-70 to clinch the program’s first outright Big Ten regular-season championship since 2014.
The Wolverines were great.
They shot 53% from the field, took their first double-digit lead of the game on an Aday Mara dunk with 16:11 remaining, then pushed that advantage all the way up to 21 points before cruising to the buzzer and winning by 14. At this point, even if Michigan loses every game it plays between now and Selection Sunday, it’s unlikely four other teams will emerge with better bodies of work. So, yeah, in Year 2 in Ann Arbor, Dusty May is going to bring the school just its fourth No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament since the bracket expanded to 64 teams in 1985.
“I want to give our guys a lot of credit,” May said following the win at Illinois that moved Michigan’s record to 27-2 and gave the Wolverines a co-national-best 12 Quadrant-1 victories. “We came into an extremely hostile environment against a very, very talented basketball team that’s well-coached. We got better by scouting them, by preparing for them, by watching them this year. That’s a good group — and I wouldn’t be surprised, if we continue to play well, if we see them one or two more times down the line.”
Michigan is No. 2 in Saturday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings, where Duke, one of only two teams to beat the Wolverines this season, remains No. 1. Illinois is down to No. 10. Next up for Michigan is Thursday’s game at Iowa that’ll be followed by Sunday’s regular-season finale against Michigan State.
Tip for Michigan State-Michigan will be at 5:30 p.m. ET.
You’ll be able to watch it on CBS.