Final Four: Four Teams Set
The 2026 Men’s Final Four field is Michigan, Arizona, Illinois and UConn — ESPN tags Arizona and Illinois as the early frontrunners after statement regional final wins. (ncaa.com) The tournament’s top announcing crew — Ian Eagle, Bill Raftery and Grant Hill — will return to call the Final Four. (sportingnews.com)
Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis will host the men’s Final Four on Saturday, April 4 (two semifinals at 6:00 p.m. ET and 8:30 p.m. ET) and the national championship on Monday, April 6, with TBS carrying the semifinal and title broadcasts. (NCAA.com/news/basketball-men/article/2026-03-26/2026-march-madness-mens-ncaa-tournament-schedule-dates) Top-seeded Michigan routed Tennessee 95-62 in the Midwest Regional final at the United Center, a game in which Michigan improved to 35-3 on the season and saw Yaxel Lendeborg lead the way in the box score. Arizona closed its West Regional run with a 79-64 win over Purdue in the Elite Eight — a victory that pushed the Wildcats to 36-2 on the year and marked the program’s first Final Four appearance in 25 years. Illinois punched its ticket to Indianapolis with a 71-59 Elite Eight win over Iowa at the Toyota Center, earning the Fighting Illini their sixth Final Four overall and first trip to the weekend since 2005. UConn erased a 19-point deficit and sealed a 73-72 East Regional final over Duke when freshman Braylon Mullins buried a 35-foot 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds left, a comeback that left the Huskies at 33-5 on the season. Saturday’s national semifinals pair UConn vs. Illinois in the early window and Michigan vs. Arizona in the late window at Lucas Oil Stadium, and opening betting lines released after Sunday’s games listed Illinois around a 2.5-point favorite over UConn and Arizona roughly a 1.5-point favorite against Michigan on several books.
