Michigan's Greatest Team Ever?

Rich called it the best basketball team Michigan has ever put together. Not just the best on the court. The best on a field, on the ice, in any sport the institution has ever fielded. That is the stake he put in the ground the morning after the national championship.

He flagged it back in December. The team's superpower was versatility. That was the thesis then and the thesis that carried through the tournament. Round of 16 against a high-flying Alabama team that wanted to run and shoot threes. Beat them. Two days later, round of eight against a Tennessee team that wanted to beat you up. Beat them too. Two completely different styles of opponent, two completely different styles of win, back to back.

Then UConn. Dan Hurley, three national championship games in four years, two titles in a row. The Huskies dictated the first half. They controlled tempo. Yaxel Lindborg was not himself. Michigan took a four-point lead into halftime, and it did not look like Michigan's night. UConn has lionhearted players. Michigan had its hands full.

And then the defense showed up. Michigan averaged over 90 points a game through the tournament. They cut down the nets because of defense. That is the point Rich kept coming back to. A team built on scoring won the final by locking it down against the reigning champs.

The versatility held up under every possible condition. Up-tempo opponents, grind-it-out opponents, and a title-game defensive war against UConn. Michigan had an answer for all of it.

Rich credited Dusty May by name. Mission accomplished in two years. Two years from taking the job to cutting down the nets. That timeline is absurd for any program, let alone one that had drifted from national relevance. The players deserved it. May deserved it. Rich said he could not be prouder and more happy.

The closing note was personal. This was the institution of higher learning he loves, and this team represented it the way he always wanted a Michigan team to represent it. Best Michigan basketball team ever. Full stop.