PRIYA COOPER / SPORTS EDITOR

On April 6, 2026, the March Madness men’s college basketball tournament came to a close after a heated month of games. The championship game took place at the Lucas Oil Stadium  in  Indianapolis, where the University of Michigan  played  the University of Connecticut. Michigan was a No. 1 seed while UConn was ranked second, which made for a competitive matchup. The game remained close down to the final seconds, but Michigan was able to secure a lead in the final minutes and win 69-63. 

Just a day earlier, the March Madness women’s college basketball tournament played their championship game in Phoenix, Ariz. at the Mortgage Matchup Center. UCLA faced off with the University of South Carolina  and  came out victorious with a final score of 79-51.

Michigan’s win marked the second title for the school in history. Michigan’s last win was in 1989. UCLA’s victory was their first ever NCAA National Championship. 

Wolverines guard Elliot Cadeau was named Most Outstanding Player (MOP)  — the MVP equivalent — after finishing the game with 19 points total. Yaxel Lendeborg was another key player who helped lead  the Wolverines to victory and clocked a significant amount  of minutes in the final game, despite acquiring an injury in the previous game against Arizona. Lendeborg had 13 points and played for a total of 36 minutes, even though he was battling a sprained MCL and bone bruise. 

UCLA center Lauren Betts was named MOP of the women’s  basketball tournament after leading the Bruins to their win. Betts dominated the championship game with 16 points and 11 rebounds in total. 

There were no perfect brackets  in the men’s challenges this year. However, an eighth grader from Pittsburgh formulated an almost perfect bracket in the women’s category. 14-year-old Otto Schellhammer produced a bracket that had 48 correct games and was busted in the Sweet Sixteen, despite having limited basketball knowledge. 

Schellhammer shared with the Associated Press that his bracket was based on 100 percent luck. There were more than 40 million entries across all the major contests. 

UCLA women’s basketball won their first ever NCAA title. Photo courtesy of @gqsports/Instagram