INDIANAPOLIS — Monday night’s national title game between Michigan and UConn will be the consummate clash of an unstoppable team meeting an immovable program.

The No. 1 seed Wolverines solidified themselves as the preeminent force of the 2025-26 season with their 91-73 bludgeoning of Arizona on Saturday night.

But for their ruthless tear through the NCAA Tournament — and through the entire season — to be remembered for the wholesale dominance which has defined it, the Wolverines will need to whack the boss.

Since 1999, UConn has hoisted six title banners under three different coaches. The No. 2 seed Huskies offered a reminder of their championship DNA during Saturday’s 71-62 win over Illinois, which long predates Michigan’s rise under second-year coach Dusty May.

That victory put the Huskies on the cusp of winning three titles in four years, a feat that has not been accomplished since John Wooden’s heyday at UCLA.

From an analytics perspective, slaying Arizona marked a bigger achievement for Michigan than a potential win over UConn. From a psychological perspective, beating the Huskies would mean far more.

UConn might be entering Monday night’s title game ranked No. 9 at KenPom, No. 9 at Torvik and No. 7 at EvanMiya.com (Michigan tops the chart for each).

But the game will be played on the court and not on a spreadsheet, and UConn is a veteran of these battles in a way that Michigan is not.

“I don’t think anybody is going to count UConn out,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said after his team became Michigan’s latest victim. “So that’s why when everybody was saying this is the national championship game; it’s not the national championship game. Monday night is the national championship game, and you have to fight to get there.”

Dan Hurley has UConn back in the national title game, and one win away from a legitimate sports dynasty

Matt Norlander

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As Huskies coach Dan Hurley said before his team spoiled Illinois’ first Final Four trip since 2005, “we don’t hang banners for Final Fours at UConn.”

Michigan does hang banners for Final Fours. Otherwise, the Crisler Center would look a little barren with only the 1989 national championship banner adorning the rafters.

The eye test says Michigan — a team that led a previously dominant Arizona squad by as much as 30 in the second half on Saturday night — will control the Huskies.

It just might. Beating Michigan will take the most legendary performance of an already heroic tear through the NCAA Tournament for Huskies big man and former Wolverines center Tarris Reed. It will take more iconic March shot-making from freshman phenom Braylon Mullins and more gutsy play from hobbled guards Silas Demary Jr. and Solomon Ball. It will take every bit of Alex Karaban’s program-defining leadership.

All of Hurley’s schematic brilliance will need to be harnessed. 

That’s just what UConn does, though. When the lights shine brightest, it rises the highest. It was the story of the Huskies’ unexpected run to the 2023 title as a No. 4 seed. It defined their 2014 title run as a No. 7 seed.

In fact, just two of UConn’s six championship banners were hung by a team that earned a No. 1 seed. Eliminating UConn will require Michigan to accomplish something that no team has ever accomplished before: beating UConn in the national championship game.

The Huskies are 6-0 all-time in national title games. Michigan is 1-6.

Past will meet present Monday night to create a potentially unforgettable title game bout. History is on UConn’s side, and it’s not for nothing. The Huskies can enter standing on the shoulders of past champions, including those of Hurley, his staff and those of Karaban. They already have rings for each ring finger.

But achieving the dynastic status that UConn is so tantalizingly close to reaching will require summiting the same type of mountain that its 1999 team climbed by upsetting a historically great Duke team for the program’s first-ever crown. 

That was the only time in its six championship runs that UConn defeated KenPom’s top-rated team in the season’s final game. Duke was led by five future top-15 NBA Draft picks, while the Huskies countered with Richard Hamilton, who led the way with 27 points.

Michigan likely does not have five future top-15 picks on its roster, but its 36-3 record and +39.72 KenPom net rating put it in the same realm as the 1999 Duke team, which was 37-1 entering the title game and finished with a +43.01 net rating even after losing to UConn in the championship game.

The towering trio of Yaxel Lendeborg, Morez Johnson Jr. and Aday Mara combine with a group of flame-throwing guards to make the Wolverines a seemingly inevitable champion.

Michigan owns more 90-plus point games in this NCAA Tournament than any team in the event’s history. The Wolverines were already the only team in Big Dance history to score 90-plus points and win four games by double-digits. Arizona became their fifth such victim.

The Wolverines own a plus-108 point differential in the NCAA Tournament vs. a plus-41 mark for UConn. That’s tied for the largest gap in any national title matchup since 1963.

A Michigan team that looked a bit unmotivated during the Big Ten Tournament has been firing at a historical clip since hitting the NCAA Tournament stage.

Michigan’s machine-like dominance and UConn’s proud past make the national championship game exactly what a national championship game matchup should be: a mandate to do something of true championship caliber.

UConn has to beat the best team in college basketball. Michigan has to beat the best program in college basketball.

This weekend in London, Derek Chisora became just the second man to lose to Deontay Wilder and hear the final bell.

The veteran heavyweight clash was suitably chaotic and entertaining, with both the Brit and the American having success in spurts. It was Wilder who scored the only two knockdowns in the fight, but he was also deducted a point for what referee Mark Bates deemed a push through the ropes.

Both men showed impressive chins, and Chisora, though he hit the canvas, appeared to go down as much through exhaustion as from being hurt. Wilder, however, claimed post-fight that he saw his opponent was in trouble and chose to have mercy, putting less into his shots and targeting the body.

However it happened, the 40-year-old from Tuscaloosa, Alabama managed to secure the 45th win of his career, but his knockout tally remains at 43.

Speaking at the post-fight press conference, Chisora said Wilder’s power does indeed matched the hype.

“Good 12 rounds. He can hit … Yeah [the power was as good as expected]. He loads it up though. He’s got tell signs before he chucks. But, when he gets you, he can hit.”

“Wilder’s got power for the first three rounds, then after he fades away. I’m not gonna take that away from him. He has got power.”

Asked if anything surprised him about the former WBC heavyweight champion, Chisora said:

“He likes to hold a lot. I thought he was good on the inside but he’s not. I know what I did. I love Deontay, but I know he broke two things – his hand and his rib.”

While Chisora did not fully commit on his pre-fight promise to retire after the bout, Wilder has left little doubt that he will carry on, and is expected to pursue fights with either Oleksandr Usyk or Anthony Joshua

During Black Caviar’s remarkable run, veteran Peter Moody rarely got teary, but post Sheza Alibi’s breathtaking win in the Doncaster Mile (1600m) at Randwick, emotions overflowed for the trainer.

From a position near the rear among 16 starters, the favourite at $1.90 confronted a tough ask swinging for home, only to devour rivals rapidly and bolt in by 4¼ lengths over Autumn Boy ($10).

Moody, who honed his skills at Randwick under T J Smith and cared for Lygon Arms, the 1988 Doncaster champ, described the success as deeply meaningful.

“I remember my time with T J and that’s why it’s always special. Randwick was always home to me,” Moody said.

“I’ve been blessed to train one of the greatest we have ever seen, but this filly is just amazing. I’m not saying she is Black Caviar, but how good.

“She is just a special, special horse. Crikey. Where’s the ceiling? You don’t know.”

The Doncaster Mile now counts Sheza Alibi as its first three-year-old filly winner since Sunline in 1999, positioning her among the top prospects.

Autumn Glow, unbeaten mare, sidestepped for the Queen Elizabeth Stakes, but Moody expects their paths to cross later.

“I’m happy Autumn Glow wasn’t here, I can tell you that,” Moody said.

“She’s a superstar and we saw her strut her stuff here earlier in the day.

“The day will probably come – let’s hope it does for Australian racing – where they meet.”

Snapped up online for $10,000 after a Rockhampton maiden debut loss, Sheza Alibi has triumphed in seven of 10 races.

Moody observed her unremarkable physique hides vast talent.

“She is so nondescript. She doesn’t stand out in the yard. She doesn’t stand out at home in training. She is just a tradesman, she’s got a great hip, a big deep girth and a hell of a lot of ability,” he said.

Jockey Jamie Melham, adding to his Doncaster Mile tally with Cascadian in 2021, was overwhelmed by her ride.

“I’ve sat on some very special horses before, but I don’t think any come close to the feel she just gave me then,” Melham said.

“What a horse. I trialled her the other day and she gave me a nice feel, but with blinkers on today, Jesus Christ. I’ve never sat on a horse that has given me goosebumps like that before.”

With attendance surpassing 15,000, Sheza Alibi mastered the field, Autumn Boy second gallantly, and Militarize ($41) from Chris Waller third by 1¼ lengths to the placegetter.

Discover leading betting sites offering racing odds for Doncaster Mile stars.

Weekly, we track our versions of the “Nopedy Nopes” in the Minnesota Vikings’ orbit, usually items that are flatly wrong, just really bizarre, or didn’t work out as everyone thought.

Three popular Vikings ideas get a closer look, and each faces real pushback.

This time, it’s mainly about the draft and free agency, as the regular season is about five months away.

A Few Popular Vikings Talking Points Need More Scrutiny

The Vikings’ Nopedy Nopes segment for the first weekend in April.

The Nopedy Nope: Avieon Terrell could be the Vikings’ draft pick at No. 18.

Terrell’s Round 1 draft stock is in jeopardy.  

The Clemson Insider’s Gavin Oliver wrote Monday, “After not participating in Clemson’s Pro Day on March 12, former Tiger cornerback Avieon Terrell held a private pro day at Clemson on Monday morning, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Unfortunately for Terrell, his workout for NFL teams was not injury-free. Schefter reported that Terrell aggravated his hamstring injury on the first run of his private pro day.”

“It’s a setback for Terrell, who has been frequently projected to be a first-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, which is set to take place from April 23-25 in Pittsburgh. Longtime ESPN NFL Draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. ranks Terrell as the third-best cornerback in this year’s draft class. Terrell did not run the 40-yard dash at the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine, but did impress during on-field drills there.”

Terrell didn’t participate at the NFL Combine. He wasn’t at Clemson’s Pro Day. And he got hurt on the first play of his private Pro Day.

That sound you hear is Terrell’s draft stock falling to Round 2.

The Verdict: Nopedy nope on Terrell as a bonafide CB option for Minnesota at pick No. 18.

The Nopedy Nope: Minnesota could draft OT Spencer Fano and convert him to center.

While most of the world mock-drafts Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman to the Vikings, Bleacher Report flipped the script this week. It nominated Utah offensive tackle Spencer Fano for the purple team, recommending an immediate conversion to center.

BR’s Scouting Report explained the pick: “The Minnesota Vikings have an opportunity to land the class’s best offensive tackle prospect and then move him to center. While the approach may come across like a poor use of resources, the type of versatility that Utah’s  potentially brings will help the entire offense, while simultaneously upgrading a unit that will be vital as Minnesota attempts to find its long-term solution at quarterback.”

Brandon Thorn at BR chimed in, “Minnesota has a hole at center following Ryan Kelly’s retirement, while right tackle Brian O’Neill is set to hit free agency after the 2026 season. Fano’s profile is reminiscent of current Packers right tackle Zach Tom coming out of Wake Forest.”

“While rumors of Tom sliding inside to center never materialized, Fano’s would in this scenario. Minnesota is set at the other four spots for the upcoming season. Still, Fano’s athletic ability is an instant weapon within Kevin O’Connell’s designed run game and offers a potential long-term option at right tackle if O’Neill is not retained.”

Drafting a center in Round 1 is usually a little silly — they can be found in Rounds 2 through 7 — and picking one to convert to center might take cake.

What are we doing here?

The Verdict: Nopedy nope on the Vikings working out patchwork offensive line solutions when they have a clean slate at No. 18. Unbelievable.

The Nopedy Nope: K.J. Osborn is an option for the Vikings’ WR3 in 2026.

One week ago, Osborn hopped on a show, declaring his desire to rejoin the team that drafted him six years ago.

Talking to the Caps Off podcast, Osborn told the show, “You can’t help but look at Minnesota. With Kyler Murray going back. Jalen Nailor, I’m so happy for him. Speedy, congrats bro, my guy, he just got 3 years for $35 million from the Raiders. So that spot WR3 is back open. Just looking around. But home is where the heart is. So, we’ll see.”

A few days later, Osborn signed with the Tennessee Titans, where he’ll compete for an active roster spot in July and August.

The Vikings, meanwhile, have these WR3 options left in free agency:

• Keenan Allen
• Brandon Aiyuk (eventually)
• Stefon Diggs
• Tyreek Hill
• DeAndre Hopkins
• Jauan Jennings
• Curtis Samuel
• Deebo Samuel

From the draft, the list is broader:

• Makai Lemon (USC)
• Jordyn Tyson (Arizona State)
• Omar Cooper Jr. (Indiana)
• Denzel Boston (Washington)
• Kevin Concepcion (Texas A&M)
• Chris Brazzell (Tennessee)
• Chris Bell (Louisville)
• Germie Bernard (Alabama)
• Antonio Williams (Clemson)
• Malachi Fields (Notre Dame)
• Zachariah Branch (Georgia)
• Elijah Sarratt (Indiana)
• Skyler Bell (UConn)
• Ted Hurst (Georgia State)
• Bryce Lance (North Dakota State)
• Deion Burks (Oklahoma)
• Ja’Kobi Lane (USC)

Minnesota could also promote last year’s WR4, Tai Felton. But it won’t be Osborn.

The Verdict: Nopedy nope on Osborn’s short-term plan to re-up with the Vikings.

Ulster head coach Richie Murphy has praised the “grit” shown by his side in grinding out a 28-24 win over Ospreys in Saturday’s European Challenge Cup last-16 tie at a windswept Affidea Stadium in Belfast.

Cormac Izuchukwu, David McCann, Jacob Stockdale and Nick Timoney all scored tries as the Irish province defied the difficult conditions to book a quarter-final against French side La Rochelle in Belfast on Friday.

The Welsh side led 17-14 at half-time but with the wind in their favour after the break, Murphy’s team battled back to claim victory.

The hosts survived a scare in the dying minutes when Kieran Hardy’s potential match-winning try was ruled out because of a forward pass in the build-up after consultation with the Television Match Official [TMO].

“A little bit of relief definitely. It never was going to be easy and the conditions obviously made it very difficult,” said Murphy after the game.

“We created quite a few opportunities in the first half but didn’t quite pick the right pass.

“That put us under a little bit of pressure and we conceded a couple of early scores to them and defensively we were just a little bit off but we are in the last eight, we’ve got work to do and we’ve got a week’s prep now to lead into La Rochelle which will be really exciting.”

The Ulster head coach added that some handling errors were inevitable given the weather conditions, which he described as the worst he had witnessed for a game during his tenure.

“We showed a nice bit of grit, we stuck at it and we got over the line.

“Created the opportunities, didn’t take them, so next week we’ve got to work on our skills in training and make sure we take them next time,” he reflected.

Murphy says the prospect of taking on Ronan O’Gara’s team next week is an exciting one.

“It’s a massive game for us, it’s at home. I know they have had a tough enough season but they’re one of the top teams in Europe and when they come to town it’s really exciting.

“We’ll brush ourselves down, we’ll review really hard on Monday and get back to work and make sure we turn up a little bit more polished, a little bit more tidy in and around our decision making.

“If we can do that we can cause any team a threat so we’re excited about what’s ahead.”

Nikola Jokic outshone fellow Most Valuable Player contender Victor Wembanyama with a game-high 40 points as the Denver Nuggets ended the San Antonio Spurs’ 11-match winning streak.

Serb Jokic, a three-time winner of the NBA’s MVP award, starred as Denver recorded their eighth straight win with a 136-134 triumph in overtime.

Wembanyama led San Antonio with 34 points but the Frenchman’s team squandered a 107-96 advantage in the fourth quarter.

Both players are among the leading names to claim this season’s coveted individual award, given to the best performer during the regular season, and were full of praise for the other after the match.

Jokic said of Wembanyama to ESPN: “I think the first time I played against him, I told you guys he’s going to change the league. He’s going to change basketball.

“I still think that. And I think he has an opportunity, a chance to be the most unique basketball player to ever play the game.”

Reflecting on defeat, Wembanyama said: “I think it was an amazing game. One of the most fun games. I wish we could have closed it out.

“It was a real test against a team that’s playing for something right now. They’ve got the best offensive player in the world.”

Both teams have already clinched a place in the post-season play-offs, which begin on 18 April.

But while San Antonio are assured of a top-two seeding in the Western Conference – they trail reigning champions Oklahoma City Thunder – Denver’s final placing within the top six is still to be decided.

The Thunder can move closer to a third straight Western Conference title against the Utah Jazz on Sunday, as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander seeks back-to-back MVP crowns.

Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic could be out of MVP contention after the NBA’s leading scorer was ruled out for the rest of the regular season with a hamstring injury on Friday.