The euphoric feeling of watching Michigan hoist the National Championship trophy last month has not worn off. But as the frenzy of the offseason has died down, we have a much better picture of the college hoops landscape heading into next year. There’s no doubt Michigan reloaded at a high level and should be very good yet again.
But will the Wolverines be good enough to repeat as national champions?
Looking inward first, it’s obvious Michigan has a ton of talent to replace. Four of the starting five
are expected to depart (though there’s still a sliver of hope Morez Johnson Jr. opts to return). On top of that, the Wolverines lose some excellent depth in Roddy Gayle Jr. and Will Tschetter. However, Dusty May and company weren’t planning on going through a rebuilding year. Instead, they loaded up with the 10th ranked transfer portal class and the fourth rated high school recruiting class.
Michigan will likely take a step back next year; that’s nearly a guarantee as the 2025-26 Wolverines were one of the best college basketball teams of all time. The question is how big of a step will that be? By most projections, it won’t be a large step at all.
The Wolverines return arguably the best backcourt in America with Final Four Most Outstanding Player Elliot Cadeau and Trey McKenney. The two of them match up well with any other backcourt in the country. They will also have athletic freak Brandon McCoy Jr., a five star freshman, to help out.
In the frontcourt, May landed two criminally underused forwards in J.P. Estrella (Tennessee) and Jalen Reed (LSU) who will look to take their game to the next level in the Big Ten. Michigan also picked up arguably the best center in the portal in Moustapha Thiam (Cincinnati). While we certainly can’t expect Estrella, Reed and Thiam to replicate Johnson, Aday Mara and Yaxel Lendeborg, the new combination is still expected to be one of the better frontcourts in the Big Ten and the country.
It’s important to look outwardly as well. The Florida Gators appear to be a large problem, as they shockingly got Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon and Rueben Chinyelu to all stay in college. On paper, that is the best frontcourt in the country. Duke is also bringing in its typical hoard of five-star recruits, along with Wisconsin transfer guard John Blackwell. Sadly, you can expect the Blue Devils to be a part of the national conversation all season long.
Elsewhere, Illinois will look similar to last year — minus Keaton Wagler — as Brad Underwood talked his entire frontcourt into returning. Michigan State will be its typical selves, assuming Jeremy Fears Jr. withdraws his name from the NBA Draft. Tennessee will also be an interesting team as Rick Barnes attacked the portal with ferocity this offseason.
In totality, May has placed his program in a spot where it is in the National Championship conversation in 2026-27. I wouldn’t expect Michigan to be a historically dominant team like this past season, but those would be unreasonable expectations for any team. Per DraftKings, Duke is the favorite to win it all at +650, with Michigan in second at +700. Florida (+800), UConn (+1100) and Illinois (+1600) round out the top five.
It’s anyone’s game come March. Let’s hope Michigan can keep the good times rolling.
What do you think? Do you think the Wolverines have what it takes to repeat? Let me know down in the comments section.
