The No. 1 seeded Michigan Wolverines defeated the No. 2 seeded UConn Huskies, 69–63, to win their first national title since 1989. What made this Wolverines team simply unbeatable was their strategic use of the transfer portal and NIL.
In Dusty May’s second year leading the program, their starting lineup, consisting entirely of first-year transfers, scored 90 points in five consecutive games and reached the title game. In a world where the NIL and transfer portal may seem cruel to the future of college sports, Mays and the Wolverines demonstrated the power of using both in their dominant win, while also raising the bar for Big Ten dominance in a variety of sports.
“The other advantage Michigan has is the Big Ten. Illinois was excellent, Iowa beat Florida, Purdue is always exceptional. Michigan State and Tom Izzo. I mean years and years, the SEC always had the advantage because they played a tougher schedule,” Fox Sports’ Colin Cowherd said on Tuesday’s edition of “The Herd.”
Michigan defeated UConn to win its second title, what was the biggest key to their dominance? | herd
The Big Ten won national titles in three different sports this year—Indiana in football, Michigan in men’s basketball, and UCLA in women’s basketball. The trio of titles makes the Big Ten the first Division I conference to win national championships in three sports in the same year.
Conference dominance is on the rise, with Indiana becoming the first undefeated team to win a national championship, as well as the first quarterback Heisman Trophy winner since LSU in 2019. UCLA women’s basketball won its first national championship in only two seasons as a part of the conference, and Michigan won the men’s basketball title for the program for the first time since 1989, and the conference’s first title since 2002.
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“So, I don’t know how NIL and transfer portal are working Yours conference, but they’re doing really well in the Big Ten,” Cowherd said. “The Big Ten has always been their alumni: smart, rich and strategic. The Big Ten has always been very proud of its academics. The new model in college isn’t just about ‘Hey, we get a bunch of really good athletes in our geographic footprint,’ it’s not about that.”
To put it in perspective, the Wolverines spent almost $10 million on the roster this season, with Yaxel Lendeborg getting a $3 million void package to play for Michigan. The Hoosiers and Curt Cignetti built a team of former two- and three-star players into a $20 million NIL championship team, with Fernando Mendoza as the highest-paid player with a $2.6 million NIL package. Even though the NIL and transfer portal have presented challenges, Cowherd emphasizes that this is the new norm in college sports.
Cowherd said, “But you can grumble about it, and convince yourself that the game is broken. But I saw the best national championship in college football that I’ve probably ever seen. I saw incredible dedication, coaching passion last night.” “How about UCLA women’s basketball? 71-4 in two years? So you can complain about it, but the train is running with or without you.”
