Jay Bilas Breaks Down Michigan's Title

ESPN's Jay Bilas joins to break down Michigan's national championship win over UConn, and the takeaway is simple. The game was not pretty, the shots were not falling, but it was compelling from start to finish. Both teams shot better in the semifinals than the final, a familiar pattern in football arenas, and the final felt like a Michigan game even while UConn kept hanging around.

Bilas points to the Terrance Reed steal between the top of the key and midcourt as the hinge moment. That was a six-point game that would have been a four-point game, real pressure on Michigan. The ball got ahead of him, he pushed it too far, threw it back to Solo Ball, and Trey McKenna contested. Both guys hit the deck. Michigan came the other way, Rody Gale Jr. penetrated, and McKenna buried a three to push it to nine. That was the game.

Michigan's defense impressed Bilas most. They blew out good teams all year, had another gear other teams did not, and that Northwestern game where they flipped the switch and ripped off a 20-something-to-nothing run was a template. Against UConn they switched coverages, took away the cutting, extended catches further from the basket, and made the Huskies work longer than they are used to working. Rim protection was real. Rody Gale blocked two at the end. Six blocks, six steals on the stat sheet, and it felt like twelve.

If the tempo had climbed into the 80s, Bilas thinks UConn wins. In a game in the 60s, even shooting poorly, the Huskies still had a chance. Alex Karaban had a look to cut it to one when they were down four. The feel of the game never matched the reality of the scoreboard.

The conversation turns to UConn's four-year run. Bilas compares it to Kentucky's 96-97-98 stretch, three straight title games and two rings. Dan Hurley's 23 and 24 teams won 12 straight tournament games by double digits, something Wooden's UCLA teams never did. Karaban joins Ewing, Grant Hill, Christian Laettner, and Bobby Hurley as the fifth player to start three national championship games in four years.

The contrast with Michigan is the story of modern college hoops. UConn kept its roster, Michigan started five transfers. Yaxel Lindborg was a hidden gem. Danny Wolf came from Yale via Michigan. Elliot Cadeau was picked apart at North Carolina for his shooting and ended up Most Outstanding Player, 19 points in the Final Four, over 70 threes on the year. Different paths, same finish line.