Mt. Pleasant, IA- The 2026 KILJ Bracket Challenge, sponsored by The Press Box, is in the books and 11.7% of participants can claim that they picked the National Champion; yet, only Sharon Menke can call herself the champion after guessing 71.4% of the bracket correctly.
What Happened
#1 Michigan had dominated for most of the season, entering the National Championship game with a 36-3 record albeit losing in the Big Ten championship game to Purdue right before the tournament in the second year of Dusty May’s reign as head coach. Additionally, two years removed from failing to win double-digit games.
#2 UConn went 34-5 to get to their third championship game over the last four seasons and were looking for their seventh banner in program history. For head coach Dan Hurley, it was a chance to stake a claim as one of the best collegiate coaches in the history of men’s basketball. The Huskies had already faced adversity to get there, losing by 20 points to St. John’s in the Big East tournament before the madness.
The biggest piece of news before the game was the reveal that Yaxel Lendeborg for Michigan, who left the Wolverines’ Final Four victory over Arizona in the first half, was not going to have any time limits placed against him.
Being at full strength, Michigan was favored to win the game and that percentage never dipped in UConn’s favor, despite the Huskies making seven more three-pointers. Nevertheless, the Wolverines converted their field goals at a higher efficiency and went 25 of 28 from the free throw line to escape with the 2026 title in a 69-63 final.
The championship was the Wolverines second in program history and their first since 1989. Additionally, it was the Big Ten’s first national championship since Michigan State defeated Florida 26 years ago.
In terms of our brackets, there were eight brackets hoping to gather some points by the end of the night with just one bracket hoping that UConn would be the team to come out on top. Instead, the Wolverine victory allowed Menke—who will get to enjoy a meal a month from The Press Box for winning—to hop up from 3rd place into the gold medal slot.
Amazingly, Mat Wilson was the only bracket in the top 7 to not guess the correct national champion and Abbie Leichty was the only bracket to never be in the top 10 before being one of eight brackets to finish with over 200 points. Additionally, Lisa Ritchey went from 59th place to finishing in 16th place after picking Michigan to win it all.
Standings
- Sharon Menke: 256
- Matt Donnolly: 246 (Tiebreaker)
- Mat Wilson: 246
- Dan Clouer: 244
- Andy Krutsinger: 242
- Lesa Fitzpatrick: 242
- Abbie Liechty: 228
- Jakin Bunnell: 212
- Joseph Koller: 178
- Alan Buckert: 176
More
Thank you to everyone that participated in this year’s bracket challenge here at KILJ and a special thank you to The Press Box for sponsoring it! We will be back for the 2027 bracket challenge!