We're days away from a new national champion being crowned, with Michigan, Arizona, UConn, and Illinois all vying to cut down the nets in Indianapolis.
Earlier this week, we broke down key stats and on-court notes for each Final Four squad, but there's far more at play than just the Xs and Os.
With that in mind, let's assess what's at stake for the remaining teams.
Michigan
Big Ten's first title since 2000
Between Michigan and Illinois, the Big Ten has two chances on opposite sides of the bracket to snap what is by far the longest active title drought among power conferences. By comparison, the SEC (Florida) won last year, the Big East (UConn) raised the trophy two years ago, the Big 12 (Kansas) was last victorious in 2022, and the ACC (Virginia) most recently came out on top in 2019.
This fact is even crazier when considering that the conference has been among the top three in average KenPom rating for eight consecutive seasons, picking up five No. 1 seeds over that span. All that misery could end Saturday if the Wolverines and Fighting Illini win their Final Four games, guaranteeing a champion from the Big Ten.
Defense finally wins championships
The notion that defense wins championships has taken a break in college basketball. No team ranked first in adjusted defensive efficiency has won the Big Dance since Rick Pitino's Louisville squad back in 2013. Michigan will break that trend if it secures a title Monday. Since 2000, five teams with the sport's top offense have won the national championship, but only two with the top defense have won over that span.
Arizona
Who needs threes?
In an era where the 3-point shot is king, the Wildcats are looking to turn that trend on its head. Arizona ranks third-last nationally in percentage of shots taken from beyond the arc (26.4%). That would be the lowest mark for a champion since UConn in 2004. For reference, D-I teams as a whole shot 7.4% fewer threes that year.
Arizona, whose offense relies on paint dominance, is more akin to the physical squads of the early 2000s than those of today's game. That Huskies team featured a pair of NBA-bound bigs in Emeka Okafor and Charlie Villanueva, while the Wildcats have their own duo of future pros in Koa Peat and Motiejus Krivas.
West Coast's first title since 1997
A team residing in the Pacific or mountain time zones hasn't won a national title since Arizona did so under legendary coach Lute Olson in 1997. Gonzaga, UCLA, and even Oregon have reached the Final Four this century, but none of them sealed the deal.
In a way, Arizona winning and ending the streak wouldn't feel quite right, considering the Wildcats are no longer part of the currently defunct Pac-12, which was long associated with the sport's best West Coast teams. But the conference is returning next season, so maybe an Arizona victory is best viewed as a win for the westernmost region of college hoops. Bill Walton would be proud, even though it wouldn't be his Bruins cutting down the nets.
UConn
Third title in four years
UConn became just the eighth team in men's March Madness history to win back-to-back titles in 2023 and 2024. But it would join an even more exclusive list if the team wins once again this season. The Huskies can become the third program ever to win three titles in four years, joining Kentucky between 1948 and 1951 and UCLA, which captured a remarkable 10 titles between 1964 and 1975.
While no one is calling Dan Hurley the next John Wooden quite yet, another Huskies victory would put them in rarefied air. The potential feat is even more absurd when considering that the program could take home its seventh title since 1999.
A men's and women's title
Of course, anything can happen, but the UConn women's squad is the overwhelming favorite to win its respective NCAA Tournament in Phoenix and complete its perfect season. If both the men's and women's teams are crowned, they'd make history as just the third tandem to do so in the same season.
Naturally, dual titles have only been awarded to 2014 UConn and ... 2004 UConn. There's no school that does basketball quite like the University of Connecticut.
Illinois
Program's first title
Illinois is the only team in this year's Final Four that's never cut down the nets. In fact, the Fighting Illini have only made the national championship game once, when the electric backcourt of Deron Williams and Luther Head narrowly fell to North Carolina in 2005. Current star point guard Keaton Wagler was still two years away from being born during that run.
Along with the potential to be the Big Ten's savior in snapping its longstanding title drought referenced earlier, the Illini have a chance to end multiple dry spells.
College basketball's most international winner
While the winner of March Madness is technically the sport's national champion, an Illinois victory may earn the team the title of "international champion." Although there's no official record of which NCAA Tournament winner had the most players from overseas, the Illini would almost certainly hold that distinction.
The team starts two international forwards in David Mirkovic and Tomislav Ivisic, plus it brings Zvonimir Ivisic off the bench. Illinois also features Mihailo Petrovic in a reserve role and Toni Bilic as a redshirt, two other European-born players. As waves of overseas recruits continue to make their way to the NCAA, the Illini can cement themselves as a leader in honing international talent.
Matthew Winick is a college basketball analyst and consultant. You can find his work on X at @matthewwinick.
