Yaxel Lendeborg leads Michigan to the Final Four, as the Wolverines dominate Tennessee
Big Ten dominates NCAA tournament with six teams to Sweet 16 | ChicagoLIVE
The Big Ten Conference has tied a record with six teams advancing to the Sweet 16 in the 2026 NCAA tournament, including Michigan, Purdue, Michigan State, Illinois, Nebraska and Iowa.
Between Michigan and Tennessee, only one of the teams represented the conference that carries the slogan "It just means more."
That team lost by 33.
Michigan basketball, highlighted by the all-around play of Yaxel Lendeborg and paced by point guard Elliot Cadeau, with assists from Morez Johnson Jr., Aday Mara and Roddy Gayle Jr., demolished Tennessee 95-62 to clinch the third spot in the Final Four at the United Center on Sunday afternoon.
How it happened
There aren’t many basketball teams outside the NBA that could have stopped Michigan on Sunday,
It was an offensive clinic by the Wolverines. Michigan’s offensive blitzkrieg utilized a 21-0 run in the first half to pull ahead 48-36 at halftime and ballooned that lead to 31 in the second half.
At the under-four timeout, Michigan held a commanding 87-56 lead. The Wolverines stars came out of the game to standing ovations. "Let’s Go Blue" chants filled the United Center. The Michigan faithful will get to carry themselves to Indianapolis.
"Our fan base does a really good job supporting us in these games we have at the United Center," Gayle said. "We've been able to rally off of that. We've been successful feeding off the energy of the crowd."
That crowd got treated to a blow-out win over an SEC team that Michigan made sure it didn’t take lightly.
"We understand that especially at this point of the season, any team is a challenge," Michigan guard Nimari Burnett said on Saturday. "We're also ready to take the challenge to them as well. We look forward to a really good, physical game but also playing our style of play on both end of the floor."
What it means
The Big Ten is reigning supreme.
Half of the Final Four will be Big Ten teams, as Illinois claimed the first Final Four spot on Saturday evening. Michigan claimed the third Final Four spot.
The difference is that Michigan is arguably the team to beat.
The Wolverines have cruised through the NCAA Tournament, winning by at least 20 points in three of their four games. Their only win of less than 20 points was against Alabama, where Michigan won by 13.
The Michigan walk-ons and deep bench players got a chance to enter the game in the waning minutes.
There haven’t been many teams to thoroughly dominate the tournament the way that Michigan has.
What’s next
Michigan will play Arizona in the Final Four next Saturday for a chance to play in the National Championship game.
It will be a clash of two No. 1 seeds.