First look at UConn vs. Michigan in the men's basketball national championship game

AlabamaArizonaArkansasDukeFloridaGonzagaHoustonIllinoisIowa StateKansasLouisvilleMiami (FL)Michigan StateMichiganNebraskaNorth CarolinaPurdueSaint Mary'sSt. John'sTennesseeTexas TechUConnVanderbiltVirginiaWisconsinStandingsBeat Our Expert's BracketTournament ProjectionsMen's Can UConn reach heights not seen on the men's side in decades? Patrick Smith / Getty Share full articleThe stage is set. UConn and Michigan will play for the national championship in men’s basketball on Monday night in Indianapolis. The No. 2-seeded Huskies, seeking a third title in four seasons, dispatched No. seed 3 Illinois 71-62. Top-seeded Michigan routed fellow No. 1 Arizona 91-73, adding a fourth blowout win to its five-game run through this NCAA Tournament. The results on Saturday ensured a historic result in the title game. No program has won three championships in four years since John Wooden’s UCLA teams more than years ago. And it’s been longer than a quarter-century since a Big Ten team — Michigan State in 2000 — hoisted the trophy. UConn’s Dan Hurley, in his eighth season with the Huskies, is 5-0 in the Final Four and 18-3 in the NCAA Tournament. A win Monday for the 53-year-old would deliver a third national championship and pull him even with Roy Williams, Bob Knight and Jim Calhoun — behind only John Wooden (10), Mike Krzyzewski (five) and Adolph Rupp (four). Hurley’s career exploded in his fifth year with the Huskies after he spent eight seasons in charge at Wagner and Rhode Island. For Michigan, 49-year-old Dusty May is coaching in his home state as he seeks to direct the Wolverines to their second national championship. Michigan won its lone title in 1989, before May attended high school. He graduated from Indiana and got his start in college hoops as a student manager in Bloomington under Bob Knight. After seven seasons at Florida Atlantic and a trip to the Final Four three years ago, this marks his first involvement in a national championship game. UConn guard Braylon Mullins: His job for the Huskies is simple: Deliver the daggers. Mullins hit one of the greatest shots in NCAA Tournament history, a 35-foot 3-pointer with less than one second to play, to push UConn past top-seeded Duke in the East Regional final. The 6-foot-6 freshman from Greenfield, Indiana, buried one from long range Saturday in the final against Illinois to give his team a seven-point lead. He scores 12 points per game and shoots 33.7 percent from distance. But Mullins’ impact is greater than numbers can illustrate. Hurley has nicknamed him the “Bringer of Rain.” Michigan center Aday Mara: The 7-3 Spaniard owned the paint against Arizona on Saturday in the second semifinal with 26 points and nine rebounds. Mara leads the Big Ten in blocked shots and averages 12.2 points and 6.8 rebounds. He rates as a centerpiece on the defensive end and a luxury for the Wolverines on offense, forming a lethal tandem with Elliot Cadeau on lobs to the rim. How Mara matches against Tarris Reed ought to shape the battle on Monday near the basket. Monday brings a shot at immortality for Hurley, five-year veteran Alex Karaban and the Huskies. UConn has won six titles since 1999, twice as many as any other program in that stretch. A seventh championship would separate UConn from North Carolina and place it behind Kentucky’s eight and UCLA’s 11 in NCAA Tournament history. For Michigan, it’s an opportunity to stamp this group as iconic and extend a golden age in the name, image and likeness era for the Big Ten, which has won the past three college football championships. In basketball championship games, the Big Ten is 0-8 since the Spartans’ title 26 years ago. Michigan has finished as the runner-up six times, including losses against Villanova and Louisville, respectively, in 2018 and 2013 amid the Big Ten drought. UConn and Michigan have never met in the NCAA Tournament. The Huskies have won two of three meetings, most recently in 2015. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Mitch Sherman is a staff writer for The Athletic covering Nebraska football. He previously covered college sports for ESPN.com after working 13 years for the Omaha World-Herald. Mitch is an Omaha native and lifelong Nebraskan. Follow Mitch on Twitter @mitchsherman