Blue By Ninety - YOUR MICHIGAN WOLVERINES ARE NATIONAL CHAMPS!!

Episode Date: April 8, 2026

MICHIGAN BEATS UCONN AND BRINGS A NATTY BACK TO ANN ARBOR!

All right, welcome back to Blueby 90. I'm Justin, joined by Joel Hornickford. We are presented by Feldman Chevrolet of Highland. Go to Feldman Chevyofhieland.com. Hey, I said it that our friends at Feldman hooked up Roddy Yale with a car, and now Roddy Yale is a national champ. And, I mean, I think that was part of the reason. So, you know, you really, you got to go back to whatever day our guy, Jason,

was helping Roddy yell out, and that was the start of this all. But, man, Joel, we're, I don't even have my voice still. We're recording this on Wednesday morning, and I don't have my voice from Monday night. So that's how this weekend went. But it's all worth it, maybe. It's all worth it. It's unbelievable to be a national champion in another major sport, which not a lot of schools can say, especially since we did it in 2023.

And here we are, 2026, with the same feeling. It's an unbelievable time to be a Wolverine. We are in everything school. That's just the facts of the situation. Nobody can deny that. Nobody can take that away from us. It feels great. Walk around, chest puffed out a little bit.

I'm here in Central Ohio. Always wear my Michigan stuff. And even now more so, you know, I'm kicking on doors, letting them know. I love it. I don't know if you can see here. I've got my football national champ sign. I got to add right below it there, the basketball national champ sign.

To your point, we are in everything school. And it is, I mean, I think it, the first and only team in the college football playoff era since 2014 to have a football national champ and a basketball national champ. And that's what, 12 years essentially, right? So very, very, impressive. It is, it's amazing to, you know, Portnoy went off on a rant. I saw the other day of that,

you know, that Michigan's the everything school. And we had talked about you starting that a few years back too. But it is, it's really cool to be able to say that, you know, it's all around for Michigan. But this team for Michigan basketball, super special run. I mean, for for a portal team you felt like these guys were true Michigan men you know you never they bought in to Michigan I think um you know from the get go and I know I saw Brad Galley asked a DiMara when they knew that they could win a national championship he said the first week that they were in practice you know and so I I just think that um it is very unique for a team in the portal era, in the NIL era, to be like so well representative of the University of Michigan

and to do it the right way and all that. And so it was just you fell in love with this team from the get-go. And now you're here, you know, in April. And it's like, holy shit, they really did cut down the nets. Yeah, I think everybody, when the portal era kind of came into play, right, you can transfer, no penalty. There was this like notion, and I was on the same. side too. You're not to be able to assemble a team of a whole bunch of random guys from around

the country and expect to be successful. I was, I mean, I will admit, I was on that side, but clearly you can. We saw it in football with Indiana. They did it. And now we see it this year with Michigan basketball. I mean, just unbelievably dominant. And to that point, it's not a team of incredible star power, which almost emphasizes it, even more because we have a non-starter from Illinois, a big man who, you know, wasn't made out to be much at UCLA, a guy that North Carolina didn't want anymore. Literally ran out of town of North Carolina. Yes.

A guy from UAB who was previously from Juko, who got cut from his middle school basketball team three times and two guys on an 824 Michigan team who decided to stay, knowing that all these other guys were coming in. and they were so unbelievably dominant. I mean, so fun to watch. I will say the national championship was definitely a rougher performance offensively for us. The way I phrased it to my dad, I said, that's the most intense bad game of basketball I've ever watched.

But it's the national championship. So, like, everything is exciting. We shot really poorly from three. but I mean our defense is so suffocating and the guys are so relentless they're so fun to watch it is sad knowing that they're not all going to be together that's the only thing I have I keep going back to that like I felt the same way in 2023 for Michigan football I was like when do we play next week I want to watch this team forever you know and I feel the same which is so cool and so I think that the The interesting thing that I said last night to somebody on the phone was, you know, and at the end of that 2023 football run, you pretty much knew it was Jim Harbaugh's last go at it, right? And so, and, you know, there were so many of those, you know, seniors and even juniors that were like, all right, this is it for us, right?

And so you were going to have to rebuild and you kind of knew that that was the end of that, like, dynasty quote unquote. For this, Dusty's in the portal right now, like ready to rebuild and there's no, there's no stopping. There's no like, oh no, we're going to have a huge fall off

and all this. It's like, no, you feel like he's like a little bit Bill Belichick-esque, like, yeah, this is great. Let me smile for a minute, but like we're on to the next one. And that's the difference for me for Michigan basketball is like, this feels like

just the beginning. You're already at the top, but it's just the beginning of a run. Yeah, he was on the Rich Eisen Show, and he mentioned that, like, after the game, he had to go do some media requirements, some interviews and all that kind of stuff. And by the time he got back to the locker room, it was past 12 p.m. or 12 a.m. So the portal was open, and he said that his assistant coaches were already scrolling through the portal looking at the portal. So, I mean, honestly, that's a little crazy to me. Like, like, I think you should give yourself 24 hours.

Yeah, give yourself some time to celebrate. But also, like, you've got to have to commend it because, I mean, this guy is absolutely relentless. And he also said that he is a Michigan man, probably the best news that we could have gotten. We've been discussing it for weeks saying that Ward's got to get it right. And it kind of honestly just sounds like Dusty. May is so committed to Michigan that he has no intentions on leaving.

But one statistic I did want to throw out there regarding the Everything school. I'm sure you saw this. First, Division I school to win multiple national titles in football, basketball, and baseball. Baseball was 1953 and 62, so that was a while ago. Football is the latest in 2023, and obviously we got a load before that. Basketball in 89 and in 2026. We are the pinnacle of university. If you like to root for sports in general, Michigan is the school that you should pick to root for.

We have it all. Well, and that's why the haters are all out more than ever, right. Oh, yeah. You know, like it is watching that, watching Michigan State fans and Ohio State fans and pretty much everybody out there that is not a Michigan fan, you know, they hate to see, you know, they hate to see us win, right? That's what it is. And that just makes it that much sweeter. And the best part, too, is like the, you know, I understood why people disliked Jim Harbaugh, right? He like, you know, he had a little bit of that villain in him.

I don't, I really don't believe Dusty May has that in him, but he still has haters. And so that means that they're just jealous. Like, that's really what it comes down to. They're creating, fictional stories of tampering and, you know, yada, yada and all this stuff just to try to, you know, make up something to hate him. But the reality is, you know, for Michigan State fans, the reason that they hate him is because he walked into your building, sat on the bench, took the noise and then kicked your ass twice and then went and won a national championship where Tom Izzo hasn't won one since the year 2000, right? So it's just, you know, that's where we're at. And I think the worry by a lot of those haters and rival fans is he's not going away.

This is not, you know, you can't, Jim Harbaugh was chased out by the NCAA and, you know, they're so glad to see him go. Dusty May is sticking around for a while and he's going to terrorize the Big Ten and the whole country. Yeah. One thing I can really appreciate about him is his just genuine awareness of the Michigan fan base. And he will always acknowledge everybody that has poured into this team, whether that's immediate family members or just the fan base that has stuck around all year, even through some of the losses, which there were only three, so it wasn't that hard. But he understands the totality of the situation, and he acknowledges it.

And as a fan, you have to be super appreciative of that. Like, I don't know of another coach who makes a fan base feel more seen than Dusty May. And he talked about his wife and his appreciation for her. You know, obviously in the business of coaching, you're moving around a lot. Early on, you're not making a lot of money. She supported the family. His boys are now in college. One of them's a sophomore at Michigan, and he wants to get him through Michigan.

to get a degree there. But he is a wonderful basketball coach who has immense knowledge of the game. But he's also an unbelievable person. Like, you can't deny that. I don't care who you root for. Like listen to this guy talk in the media and try to develop a bad opinion about him. You literally cannot do it. Well, and Yax was on.

I can't remember what show he was on. I feel like they've all done a thousand of them 24 hours, whatever. But he said that the, The reason why he loves Dusty is because Dusty was more, he was more about him as a person than as a basketball player. You know, there are times throughout the year that Dusty told Yaks to like take a step back, maybe take a day off from practice and get yourself right

because maybe he was going through some tough times or just like, you know, the roller coaster of what a season goes through. And so I think truly he does care about that, which is, you know, why all those guys buy in, right? And, you know, for, you think about the calendar of how quickly you have to have guys to buy in. You know, they're on campus in what, September, right?

And then, you know, you're jumping right into it. And then there's a game, you know, in November, right? And so you have to get guys to become best friends, you know, off the court and on the court that quickly. And so I think that that's a big piece of it. and going back to your Michigan fan base, like for a guy, like, Michigan fans and the administration, everybody preaches about, like, we got to have a Michigan man in the building, right? For a guy that wasn't a Michigan man until he stepped on campus,

is there anybody who gets it more than Dusty May? He totally understands the fan base. He understands the alumni. He calls John Teske and Nick Stouskis and Spike Albrecht and talks to them. wants to know what, what, you know, didn't go right in the past and how, you know, how can he get them to buy in? And, and so I think there's, you know, even the John B-lines, he gives him, you know, his flowers. He gives Juan Howard and the Fab Five their flowers, right, even though things didn't go well for them. He's voicing his opinion on saying, like,

no, put up the Fat Five banners. He had nothing to do with that. He doesn't have to do that, but he gets that, right? So there's a reason why I actually, All weekend, we had the same seats down in Indianapolis, and the entire 2013 team was there right next to me. It was Spike Albrecht and Jordan Morgan and Nick Stousk and Zach Nobeck and Stu Douglas, a lot of those guys from the past. And they're going crazy. They're super bought in to what Dusty May is doing right now.

And it's because that he went to them and John Beeline for their blessing first, right? Like it was like, hey, you guys built this program. Even Joanne Howard, he, Dusty mentioned how he called him first day on the job, right? And it's like that respect was earned by those guys because of the way he's going about it. And now, you know, they're going to be behind him for the rest of his life because he was able to hang that banner. Yeah. I mean, he is the person that you would want to be your head coach and the same person who, agrees to continue to be your head coach until, and he said this,

until he sees that it's not working anymore, and then he'll depart. And I mean, that's, it's so real, it's so authentic. The dude is an absolute powerhouse of a human. He even gave last year's team their flowers and said, you know, last year's team built this. And they weren't expecting to lose Danny Wolf to the draft, but they do. And so what?

They bring in all of these mercenaries, right? that's what it tells, which is sick. Yeah. And create an absolute dominating team. And it begs the question, is this the best team in Michigan basketball history? I mean, so what? You 37 and 3 is that the record? I mean, if you're just going off wins, I believe that is the highest that they've ever had.

I could be totally wrong there to be honest. I know you're right. Let me provide you with some statistics that I have. And I'll let you and the listener make the judgment. 37 wins, program record. 29 regular season wins program record. 19 Big 10 wins, conference record. Point per game difference 17.8.

Beat Ohio State three times, beat Michigan State twice, undefeated in Big Ten road games, first time ever in the Big Ten for any team, first team to score 90 plus points in five games in the NCAA tournament and national champions. I mean, I don't know. Like, when you really list it out, it's like, I don't know how you can say it's not the best team of all time, right? Because, you know, you look at the Fab Five and the 89 team and a lot of those teams that were, unbelievable as well. But they, even they didn't, you know, didn't achieve a lot of that stuff.

They had, you know, six, seven losses, something like that, right? And like, I, you know, it's pretty incredible to see. And the funny thing is, when you think about it, it's like, should have beat Wisconsin, really didn't play that well against Duke and could have beat them, you know, which at the time, they were the number one team in the nation. I really think they were better than Purdue. It was just like they ran out of gas in the Big Ten tournament. They were just so tired.

And so like 40 and O was not out of the question, really. It's pretty crazy. But, you know, I don't know. It's one of those things where I think it's so hard to say, like, best team ever because the sport is different. You know, it's all those things. It's the Jordan and LeBron debate, right? It's like they were playing a different.

eras and so that's always tough but one thing i want to say i love is that yaks is a guy who is like i think we might be the best team ever but then he added in like i'm going to wait for the fab five to say it themselves before i'm going to go ahead and say it you know about us because they became they came before us and so um i think that's like the combination of the talent but also the the all the fun that they had too made it so like yax is a clown and a daimara's wearing a fedora they call him the big goop you know and uh they're wearing l j kaysen's jersey then yax is wearing roddy's jersey and yax is giving roddy shit and then you have will cheddar and namari and will's just crying his eyes out because he's been here for five years and um you know it's just like all and and elliott

who even our own fan base was trashing him throughout the season, you know? But then he becomes the most outstanding player of the final four and is totally the key piece to the success. And it's just like all of that together is like, holy shit. How did Dusty and this staff have the perfect pieces to the puzzle where you didn't even know what the puzzle looked like, right? And it was, it's just really, when you take a step back and think about how it all happened, to your point, like, you know, this isn't a John Calapari team where they have six first round draft picks on one squad.

You know, I think Yax is going to go first round. Maybe Mara. I'm not even sure, right? Like, it's pretty crazy how, you know, it's, they're all very, very talented. Don't get me wrong. but this is no all-star squad. Right. And that's definitely like something that people need to think about when they're talking about this is we're not talking about which team had the most star power.

Right. That's not what we're discussing. We're talking about which team had the most accomplishment as a team. And I think it's pretty hard to say that this team is not. You know, the best. I'll say it. But, you know, obviously Glenn Rice on the 80-19, like, Glenn Rice was an absolute baller.

He's got the most points in tournament history. Can we take one second before we talk more about this team? Because we were talking about this when I was at dinner with some friends on Sunday in between games. Go look at his tournaments. I mean, he was scoring like 33 a game or something for six straight games against the best teams in the country. It's absolutely insane.

Yeah, yeah, no, it is nuts. I think I saw a stat that he had in the tournament, tournament record, like 184 points throughout the whole tournament. So, yeah, I just think it's hard to refute that these guys are the best just collective team in Michigan history. I know there's other teams with more star power. And, you know, you mentioned the John Caliperi teams. Like, that's not what this is. But the collective effort of all these guys turned into an absolute dominating force. Guys showed up when they needed to.

When LJ. Kaysen went down, we were like, who is going to lead this offense? Who's going to direct what's happening on the court? Like, is the Axe going to step up and be that guy? And here comes Elliot Kadeau. I mean, absolute baller. Against Arizona, they make the adjustment that instead of tossing lobs, they throw them off the backboard now. What?

Who's thinking of that? Who's thinking of that? And I heard Dusty May talking about Mara when he first got in. And like in practices, Mara was throwing these like behind the back passes and over the shoulder passes. And Dusty originally was like, dude, I don't like, you got to stop that. But then he went and talked to him and he kind of saw what he was doing. He said, hey, listen, I like what you got going on here. We just got to let the guys know what you're seeing.

Right. And so that just goes to show you that Dusty May is not a. I know everything guy. You're going to do it my way. Like he's open to adapting to the playstiles of his guys. And clearly he did. Phenomenal coach, phenomenal team, national champions. Let's go back to Saturday, which Clayton's country bar was insane all weekend long.

Shout out to my friend Clayton Anderson. I was up on stage with him. That's why I don't have any voice. you know, getting the people riled up, getting booed by some Illinois fans and Yukon fans, that's fine. But it was a phenomenal weekend. Going back to Saturday, that game, everyone's like, this is the greatest game of all time going into it, right?

It's like, oh, my gosh, these are the two Goliaths, you know, and Arizona was a number three, third ranked Ken Palm team of all time. And then Michigan just, we just go out to a 10 to one lead. And I mean, there was no turning back. I think that Arizona pushed it to like six, five maybe, you know, when it was like 28, 23 or something like that. And then after that, Michigan went back to double digits and it never went below double digits. And so just like I've never seen, there were a lot of people saying like,

Arizona looked literally deer in headlights. Like what the fuck is going on right now? Because it was, you know, they had, they had been doing that to teams all year long, right? Including in the elite eight, you know, and all that. And so, you know, it was kind of, it was just so impressive on Saturday where obviously it's one of those days where everything was falling.

We did hit a lot of threes, but it was everything was working. And then your defense is the one that really wins you the game because, you know, I think that Arizona thought that they were going to just use Coe at Pete and go inside and bully these guys. And then we were just bigger and better and faster and stronger. And they had no idea what to do with it. Yeah. And they obviously they've never been at a point in their season where they got punched in

the mouth early like that and then continuously. Right. And we talked about this last podcast. I said, what if it doesn't have to be a close game? Like, what if we just don't make it close? And they didn't. They didn't. I mean, they were firing on all cylinders.

But it wasn't like a perfect game for Michigan. I mean, Yax gets two fouls early and then it gets hurt. And we're still able to go up 30 points on Arizona. I mean, if you could have ever told me, if like going into that game, you tell me, yaks of all people, gets two fouls and goes to the locker room, like he's not going to come back. I'm like, that's how we lose. This is literally how we lose that game is like we go down a guy or we get in foul trouble with the big men. And then, you know, it was just like I was, I was so convinced that that's how we lose that game. And so

I'm like, shit, what's going to happen? And then everyone else just steps up. And you're like, but that's been the beauty of this team all year long is they spread it out. You know, obviously you look to Mara and Yax to be your guys, but like, Yax goes down and then Mara just goes crazy against Coa Pete, who's, you know, against the number one big guys in the, in the country, right? And so, um, that was the cool part about that was just like, okay, Yax goes down. Your, your,

your five star number one player, you know, Big Ten conference player of the year goes down. We don't care. We're fine. Just keep it right. Right. Elliot Ketow took over. and obviously March Roddy's showing up. Absolutely. April Roddy. That guy is a dominating force.

Thank you, Ohio State, for giving him to us. He's a beast. We love you, Roddy Gale. But it was a fun game to watch as a Michigan fan. I mean, when you're in that big of an environment and you are up by that much, and us at home are watching and I can lay back on the, couch and just watch the score go up and up and up. And like you see Bradley experienced foul trouble the whole game until he

eventually fouled out. And the frustration on his face and on Tommy Lloyd's face, like they did not know what to do. They didn't know how to handle a situation like that. And everybody's going into that game is saying, well, Michigan has really hasn't played anybody close. So I don't know how they're going to, you know, adapt to that situation. Well, guess what?

We didn't play them close. Like we whooped them and they didn't know what to do. They didn't know how to respond to just relentless pursuit of five guys, regardless of who those five guys were, just dominating the court, like in all phases. At one point, this is in the final four against the other number one seed who was actually ranked higher than Michigan pretty much all year long. We were up 30 points at one point. Like what in the world? I mean, it's literally unheard of stuff, man.

Yeah. And I appreciate Dusty May. I forget what they asked him or if, I think maybe they asked him, you know, when did you know that you were going to win that game? And he was like, did you watch the Yukon game? You watched Yukon and Duke? Like Duke was up by 19 and Yukon came back and won.

So no, I wasn't ever comfortable in winning the game. And that wasn't like a sense. of like running the score up no and honestly at this point time of the year running the score up is not even a thing because it's not like you have some like weak team that you can just absolutely do or die situation yeah like you you either win or you go home and we're playing for titles at this point uh so i like just his awareness of the situation and it it does not come from any form of like cockiness or airheadedness, but just like, he gets it. The guy gets it and he knows how to coach a basketball team

and beat the absolute dog snot out of the Arizona Wildcats, which was so sick to see. Yeah, and I mean, I think he was asked why he put yaks back in. That was the question. Which I'll be honest, me watching from afar, I'm like, we're up 30, Dusty. We need to win on Monday night. Like, let's, we're okay here.

but I think to his point, like, you know, they were up 19, Duke was up 19, and guess what? They're watching from the couch this weekend, you know, so you can't take any chances. But fast forward to Monday night then. And this is another thing that I thought, like, from my perspective and where I was at in my head, normally your number one guy is hurt and like everyone's saying like, oh, MCL sprain, whatever, blah, blah, blah, like maybe not going to be able to go. If anything, he's, you know, 25% or whatever, right? And normally, you'd be like, we're screwed.

Shit, it's the national championship going up against another Goliath and Yukon. But I don't know about you. I was like, I'm more, like, I'd love to have yaks out there, but I think we can beat them no matter what. Yeah. And I think we saw that from the Arizona game, right? I mean, we didn't have them from the majority of the game. And we did what we did to them and absolutely dismantling.

And so you go into Monday knowing that that is possible. Like we don't need him to be on the court. And you watch him come back in the second half. And he looks, truthfully, he looked terrible as far as just how he was moving. Like, I was kind of concerned for him. I was like, dude, you're like taking six inch steps down the court. This is not very productive. And obviously, you don't want to make it worse.

But, yeah, going into Monday. they obviously you're going up against Terrace Reed, former Michigan Wolverine, which that was cool to see the relationship that he had with the guys there. Obviously, he was with Will and Namari. There's definitely no bad blood there. He's a good kid.

It was, you know, he wanted to be at Michigan. It was just the situation, right? Yeah. Yeah. So Yukon previously was, well, they were in three, one, three of the last, for national championships, I believe, prior to this year.

Or no, they made it. They made it. Yeah, yeah. So they know how to win big games in April at that point, right? And so you always wonder what Dan Hurley's got going. But as we watch the game, obviously you're frustrated as a Michigan fan because it doesn't look like Arizona. Right. That's not how we were playing.

And so, yeah, you have this in your mind of, you know, I don't know, like how long are we going to be able to manage not playing well and staying close with them switching leads back and forth. And then somehow they just figure it out and start pulling away to where now Yukon's fighting from behind, which is exactly where you want to be. And they're kind of in this desperation mode. And they executed in that mode.

start to pull it close and then Trey McKinney hits a huge three, which with like a minute 40 left in the game, which was another momentum boost that Michigan really needed. Yeah, I mean, you knew that the, I don't know, I guess you didn't know. I was going to say you knew that we were going to play a not good game at some point. But I will say once we beat Arizona, I was like, maybe we are just going to beat everybody by 30 the whole thing here, you know. But yeah, I think. that like it you know it turns out that was the game that danny hurley wanted to play they were just going to let us try to slow us down we never got out and running and they were going to foul so that we couldn't get in any type of shooting rhythm and they're just like yeah we'll just send them to

the free throw line whatever that's fine um slow the game down not that not let them get out and run um and they were like on their end just trying to go at us like lower their shoulder play bully ball, which didn't phase us on defense either. So, I mean, that's where, like, I think that game is where defense is really the important thing, right? And that's why Michigan was so good all year is you definitely had offense, obviously, a lot of the year, but it all came down to they were the best defensive team in the country all year long, in my opinion.

Yeah. And like Yax is the defensive player of the year at UAB, right? and you almost don't take that into account because of how productive and explosive he is on offense for us. But the dude plays unbelievable defense, and they all do. And they're so smooth with it. Like there's no questioning on what they're doing. They're so intricate. They switch everything.

Everybody guards everybody. And you got Mara in the paint with like 12 foot arms defending everything around the rim, which I personally can't imagine shooting. around that. And obviously that's why he was so efficient defensively as well. But like, I mean, really every facet of the game, like people said we didn't have a weakness going into that game. And that was true. We really didn't have a weakness, which is why we could play poorly, offensively, and still win a national championship game because we didn't have weaknesses. We were so well-rounded. And, you know, that's compliments to the coaching staff for.

not only getting them to that point, but also getting the right guys in there that could perform both offensively and defensively. And also, you have to mention the free throw shooting. At one point in time, we had made over 20 free throws. I think that ended when Roddy missed his two late in the game. But, man. Were we 20 for 20 at one point, right? Yeah. Yeah.

Pretty crazy. Yeah. And so that, like, that right there is how you win basketball games. Right. You know, that is you got to hit your free throws when they give you those. That's like a little thing, right? That wins you games. It's not a sexy thing, but it's a definite little thing, which is not to make this about football,

but going back to 2023, that's why Michigan won, right? That's why, you know, they were so good because they never made the mistakes. and so that was kind of a little bit like that. I mean, if you would have told me that we're going to go two for 15 from three and get out rebounded, there's zero percent chance we're winning that game. Right. It does not make sense. I mean, those and somehow you pull it out and you hit all your free throws.

The Trey McKinney shot is the most timely shot of all time that we're waiting for. whole game, right? You know, Monday, I'll be on a Saturday was like, it felt like 75% Illinois fans because they're only two hours away and hadn't been there for a long time. But then, you know, once they lost, it was like all Michigan fans on Monday night. And we're just waiting to erupt the entire game. You know, there were a couple big plays like defensively. We had some blocks and things like that that we went crazy for. But you're waiting for the that big three to happen. And it was getting a little itchy right before that. Like you said, Roddy missed two free throws. We turned the ball over. I think it was a six point game. They're

going back down the floor to ultimately maybe make it a four point game. And they've got all the momentum in the world. And, and then, you know, Trey McKinney comes actually, he actually made the defensive play first, you know, to, he didn't block it, but he definitely, altered the shot and then comes back down. We've got numbers. I was super impressed by Res because he didn't get the ball well, right, from Caddo. But for him not to just like completely panic, he was able to kick it to Roddy, who kicks it to Trey, Tray stays under control, and then hits the shot of a lifetime that, I don't know if you saw this. After he won Gatorade player of the year in Michigan, he said, like, I plan to win a national championship

with Michigan. I didn't see that. Yeah. Which is pretty insane. And so it's kind of like the Tiger Woods, which maybe that's not the best thing to talk about right now. But the early Tiger Woods interview when he was like, I plan, like, I'm going to go win tournaments.

And he was like 19 years old, right? And like, it was very like that, which was so awesome. And, I mean, Trey McKinney, for a guy that is 19 years old freshman on a team that was super talented, just unbelievable for him to have that type of role, especially because, I mean, Yax was 0 for 5 from 3. Elliott was 1 for 4 from 3. I mean, Trey was 1 for 4, but hit some very timely shots. And Namari was 0 for 2.

like we needed somebody to finally step up at that time and for your freshman to step up is pretty unbelievable. Yeah. And with regards, because I know I saw some people talking about, oh, you know, they bought this team. They paid crazy money in NIL for this team. Listen, this is the world of college athletics now. If you do not dive into the transfer portal, then you lose to people who do. And we've seen examples of people who play out of the transfer portal and it doesn't go well for them.

If we look at football, Michigan State did it, very successful one year and then never saw that success again. Dusty May has done it two years in a row, put together elite teams through the transfer portal. So, like, that is college athletics, whether you like it or not. I mean, I'm not a huge fan of all the money that's flying around to buy these teams, but it's just how it is now. And we didn't go out and buy crazy star power. No. I mean, Yax is obviously the number one player in the portal and we get him. But all of these other pieces are not these unbelievable players who are freaks.

They just come together and we put together an unbelievable team like we talked about earlier. Yeah, I think at face value, when you put together that portal class, it was good because, like, it was the number one class because of, yeah, because he was. he was the number one guy in the portal. Right. But everybody else was a piece to the puzzle. They weren't the superstar, right? And so that's where, you know, you got to make it work.

I think the other thing that people don't talk about enough is you got to make that work on a personal level and not just a basketball level, right? You're putting a lot of egos in one building that don't know each other and somehow you made it work. So it's really, really impressive. So, all right, we've got Tanner here, too. I know Tanner's on the road. He's actually moving to Kansas City today.

But he told me that he wants to jump in. And when would be a better time than right now. So let's see. I don't think he's got a microphone, though. So can we get a microphone connected? Oh, there we go. Okay. How about this?

Tanner. Can you hear us? I can hear you guys. Can you guys hear me? We can hear you. Awesome, man. No, I've been listening in the last five-seven minutes. Appreciate you guys having me on.

I'm actually just north of Indianapolis right now making the drive and just saw a digital billboard with the national championship logo on it. So hopefully all the Purdue and Indiana fans really enjoyed that. I hope they see that on their way to work. I enjoyed seeing it. We're on our way to a Chip-Balay and Tara Hote, Indiana. So, you know, just really driving through the great state of Indiana, right after, you know, $40 after Michigan won a national championship in Indianapolis.

It could be worse. I love it. I love it, man. Yeah. We've just been talking about this team and how, you know, it, I don't know. Like, it's, it wasn't a guarantee that it was going to work, right? Like, nobody even knew who Ady Mora was other than that he was seven foot three. You know, Roddy Gale, I, you know, I think we're all a culprit of at one point or another in the last two years to be like, what's he doing on the court?

You know, and somehow he comes one of the key pieces to it. So, yeah, from your perspective, you know, you watched them all year long. What are your final thoughts now that they officially hung the banner? Yeah, I thought in November this was the best Michigan team I'd ever seen. I think I'd probably set that to our group text. was like I know they have a long way to go in terms of accolades, but just talent-wise, the way they play the game of basketball. The best team that I had ever seen in my lifetime, now I didn't see the bat five and in 1989, right? But in terms of just basketball ability,

I always thought they were the best from a, from an early part of this year. And then to see them just continue, like, every test that was thrown their way, it's like, I mean, what can't they do? Yeah, they lost three teams. You know, they went 37 and three. And Joel, to your point too. Like, I've seen a lot of complaining or a lot of like, oh, put an a asterisk by this one and I'm like, people are so lame, man. Like, yeah, they have, like, what was Dusty May supposed to do after going 824? And Marri Burnett and World Trade are with the only guys on the roster on Scotchian. What was he supposed to do? Was he supposed to go inside from high schoolers?

I don't understand this, you know, built, not bought narrative. I mean, I know where it comes from, you know, a couple of fan bases who are salty that their coaches are just not as good as Dusty May. I think, you know, maybe hyperbolic, but you can legitimately make it. Dusty and Chris Nettie are the best college coaches in America with what they were able to do in such a quick two years window. So all of the, oh, you bought a title, this and that.

I'm like, do I not see like thousands of retweets when a guy commits out of the transfer border to whatever school? These people are clearly excited when it happens to their team. They just didn't get the right transfer, don't have the right personnel, don't have the right coaching staff to capitalize on it. So, because I can guarantee you Michigan are not spending the most money in the border.

I guarantee you it was those basketball bootups, like Kansas and Kentucky. Right? So it is a very, you know, it doesn't bother me because Michigan got the national championship, but there's a lot of, a lot of haters and losers out there that just can't fathom that Michigan is laughing. Their favorite team, their best sport is basketball.

You know, now we're tied national championship. So that's going to be a tough for them to bathe them here over the next several weeks and months. Yeah, and I think the criticism comes from some teams that have had a recent acquisition of a head coach within the last two years who were not able to produce the amount of success that Michigan has. Like, let's just look at Ohio State. they get Jake DeBler as a head coach. I think Jake DeBler is a good head coach, but they're not able to produce what Michigan did this year and be nearly as dominant as Michigan.

And so the immediate response then for the fan bases, hey, they bought the roster. Don't play that game. Because we experience the success doesn't mean that there's some kind of money involved to create this. Like this is still basketball. We're putting five random guys together on the court to create what we created all season. So say what you want, but the facts are just the facts.

Well, and the best part, too, is we, I mean, we talked about the John Calipari team. Do you think that John Calipari got six first round picks to come to Kentucky with zero money pre-NIL, zero car, zero anything? like, you know, everyone kind of brushes, obviously he was, you know, infamous for that, but nobody's now thinking about that, right? And, and then, you know, to compare him to Cignetti, like, I'm sure that they spent quite a bit of money to get Fernando Mendoza and a lot of those guys. And it was very similar because it was, hey, we need it, we don't need the top guys, but we need all the best pieces to the puzzle. And so, so now, because, And here's the reality, too.

This narrative of the bought-not-built thing is really just coming from Michigan State and Ohio State fans and some of these big 10 teams that are just salty as hell because they couldn't do what Dusty did. That's it. I mean, hey, man, here's the thing, though, because, you know, in 2023, unlike, you know, some of the haters out there, Michigan and football, well, they did. build it, they didn't buy it. But we can do it both ways. That's the same. Michigan can do it both ways. They can go out and they can recruit high schoolers and they can build a program that way and supplement transfer. Or they can just go buy players in the portal. Like, I'm not ashamed

to be like, yeah, Michigan had money to go and spend on this roster. That should not be a bad thing in today's era. Like, that's only a good thing. Like, what's we're going to do in the portal this year? I'm sure it's going to be very similar to, you know, last year's haul. So, yeah, man, I love it. Like, you know, it is, I do think it is maybe a little critical. I'm sure I'll probably focus on Ohio State fans about buying their national championship. But I also, the narrative that I've enjoyed a lot as well is, oh, you did with your big, with the conference championship. Well, no, basketball, you know, look, last year when Michigan State won the regular season of Michigan, Michigan won the regular season, Michigan won the tournament.

I want to switch places then. The regular season is much more of an important championship, in my opinion. The tournament's great, but, you know, Purdue can have that this year. but the Ohio State bench were like, oh, I thought you had to win your conference. Well, I mean, if we're going to compare a 40-game schedule of basketball to 12-game schedule of football, we certainly can do that. But, yeah, there's just been a lot of narratives. I think Twitter's really just pushing a lot of, you know, idiot takes out of my timelines, and that's probably why I've seen them so much.

But it is very, very enjoyable to see those tiers all over social media because there was never least level of vitriol against Florida last year. And I think they also had four transfer starters or three transfer starters. it's very funny and uh hey man that national championship gear it doesn't say how many transfers they were just as michigan so i don't know exactly yeah i mean that's the best part is when you win all these narratives they get thrown at you you can just respond with a national championship logo or a or a photo of dusty holding the trophy and it ends the conversation right so how are our finances doing by the way i dropped a i dropped a little bit you know a couple different websites i had

I did it out yesterday that my bank account was just starting to recover from the football national championship merch that we had. You know, now we got to do this. So, yeah, it's, I mean, it is so much fun. I am so excited for Saturday, too. These guys get their parade. They get their national championship celebration and everything, too. I'm praying that it's like 65 and sunny on Saturday in Ann Arbor. Because, man, I mean, what a time.

I guess before we talk about that, too, I know we had a hell of a time in Indianapolis. The videos coming out of Ann Arbor from Monday night were unbelievable. Yeah. Yeah, there was like fireworks going off. Yeah, who did that? Yeah, I don't even know how they managed to make that happen. Obviously, the streets are filled.

Obviously, an unbelievable time to be a college student in Ann Arbor, living it up. I saw Bryce Underwood was out there celebrating with everybody. Some people were freaking out that he was out there. I was like, why wouldn't he celebrate? Like, he's still a college student. Like, get off his back. He's 19 years old, I think.

Let the guy live a little bit. He doesn't have to sleep in the facility, but it did look unbelievable. I mean, and that's the way it should be. That's absolutely the way that it should be. Yeah. Go ahead, Tanner. Oh, man, I just, yeah, was awesome to see.

Just bummer timing for me with all the moving and having Coopers and stuff. So, you know, I didn't get to go to the game to celebrate. But, you know, it was also tried out to wake my daughter and really annoy my pregnant wife. Because the game, I mean, the game just, it started late and ended later. And it was just excruciating last however many minutes, you know, towards the end. Because I'm just a worry, worry ward all the time. And so, you know, just, just, you know.

try not to wake the baby up and everything, but it was awesome, man. And, you know, I think, I can admit that I think the football one hit me much harder, but this was awesome, man, because I had, you know, 2013, 2018, like, you just were so close and you could not get over the hump. So, you know, to be able to see this program get that second banner. I mean, because you think about a Michigan's two and six in national championship, there's a world where they're, they are, you know, in the top five for national championship. And they're, you know, maybe considered a blue blood.

And they just have struggled in championship games. And so, you know, for them to go and get it done and the way that they did, I know you guys talked about a little bit just with the lack of, you know, the lack of shooting, anything that wasn't, you know, flat foot around the rib. Just the way that they went and did it was just awesome, man. So I couldn't be happier for Dusty May and his team. And, yeah, it was just awesome to be able to, you know, celebrate and enjoy it.

And I wish I could be there for the brave. But just so you know, we were there when it was snowing, and, you know, there was a bunch of, you know, slushy snow on the ground. And I think it was snowing with Trevor Gegan had a shirt off, crush the sport light. So, yeah, I don't know if any of the basketball players are going to do that, but I'd love to see it. Maybe, I don't know, maybe Howard Isley gets into it. I don't know, man. He's sort of a name up there, but I'd love to see him, you know, cracking some beers. But, yeah, I'm excited to watch it on Big Ten Network and we'll be unpacking and everything, but it'll be cool to watch the guy celebrate.

And, yeah, that's a hell of a team, man. I mean, that's, we've been, we've been very lucky, man, over the last two years, two national championships and a chance. I'm sure you guys are talking about hockey, but it's a chance to get a third in two years. I mean, Saturday. Like, it's been fun being a Michigan fan. And that's more than I can say for when I was a kid and a teenager. Yeah, 100%. No, it's, it's been a wild ride.

I can't imagine being a Michigan student that was there for all four of these years. like that's a pretty damn good run, which is pretty impressive. And the other thing, Tanner, that we had talked about was that, you know, the difference between the football one was that Harbaugh is pretty much done and we knew that, but Dusty May is just getting started, you know. And now he's in the portal already looking for next year. They got a five-star who committed on the broadcast with the Fab Five on Saturday, which is maybe the coolest thing of all time.

Right. And now, I mean, the funny thing about the whole buying it narrative is, yes, they're going to spend plenty of money this upcoming offseason and getting guys. But the reality is because you're so good, you've got to get guys on a discount compared to other schools that have to maybe pay up, right? And so, you know, a Miami out there I know has already been offering a lot of people, two and a half million to come. Maybe you can get them for one to one point five to stay, you know, and things like that. So, yeah, so I mean, the best is, it's, I was about to say the best is yet to come,

which is insane to say 48 hours after a national championship. But it just, you know, it feels like if Dusty wants to, which it sounds like he does, he can stay here and truly build a dynasty for the next 10 years. Yeah, I think it's crazy that a coach in two years can get to that level, to the level where you're like, please stay as long as you want. Like, that's crazy. For a guy that doesn't have any previous ties to the University of Michigan, like, it's different with Jim Harbaal. You bring in Jim Harbaal knowing that he's a super successful coach and a former Michigan Wolverine and you're like, hey, stay as long as you want. But Dusty May was not in that position.

He comes into Michigan and he hammers out two years, wins a national championship. He had never even coached at a power four, power five level before. Yeah, yeah, but that's crazy. That is insane. I know he was a Bob Knight student manager. Right.

And now he's a national championship coach, which is kind of crazy to think about that connection. But, I mean, it's nuts. A guy is here for two years, and we're like, dude, please stay. And it's real. And he's such a good coach. He's such a good coach. And that's obviously pretty evident.

Yeah, I remember we were at the pretzel bell in the basement, Justin, I believe. You, myself, and Nolan, when the news broke and you didn't think he was coming. He thought he was going to Louisville. I did. And I know Ohio State was in a mix. And, yeah, I mean, you know, I know a lot of people don't, don't, don't, um, I love Ward Manuel, but, you know, Ward manual is the job that he did with, you know, bringing in John B-line to get him to come to Michigan.

I mean, you know, credit to those guys because that completely changed the entire, you know, fortune of the basketball program. I mean, two years removed, made 24, man. Like, two years removed, watching the first half, and then Michigan's now 20 and it's like, I'm going to go to bed now. Like, and I love Michigan basketball. Like, I rarely do I miss a game. I mean, there was 40 games, and I think I missed one this year because I was traveling from work

and then I watched the replay. Like, I love Michigan basketball. just such a rough spot. And it was so tough because Juan's a legend, you know, and he had a great first couple of years, you know, went to the 316, went to the elite eight, won the Big Ten, like all those things. So the turnaround that Dusty was able to do, and, you know, Dustin talked about the first thing he did was called Juan. Like,

I always felt that when he kept Jeth Howard on the roster, I always thought that was really just awesome as like an olive branch to Joanne and that five to keep that part of Michigan history, you know, accessible to the program. And so, you know, you mentioned having Brandon McCoy commit to the fat like that was awesome having the fab five and everyone likes to joke like well they trot them out but it's like no man like that for a lot of people and I didn't live it but for a lot of people that is Michigan basketball and what that means and how culturally relevant the fat five was so to to keep that like that the olive

branch extended to Jalad and the rest of that that group um and what dusty's been able to do in terms of fundraising and just bringing Michigan basketball together and for it to within two years Coleman in the national championship is unbelievable. I mean, it really is. Like, it's not, you know, look, Michigan basketball is a lot more successful historically than Indiana football, and it's not the same thing. But it is similar in terms of just quickly being able to turn around a program. Again, we go back to the buying players, how ridiculous that is,

but he had two players on the team at that point and completely built out the roster. And, you know, did a great job with having guys that went and needed and, you know, won a lot of games in Michigan last year. So, you know, shout out to Danny Bull. Golden, Trey Donaldson, all the guys from last year's team that, you know, really set the foundation for this. Because, you know, they could have done it without them. So it's just awesome.

And I'm kind of gushing at this point, but it's just, it's hard to fathom. You know, if you told us two years ago, hey, they're going to win national championship. They're like, what? It's just unbelievable the job that everyone did associated with the program. The reality is, I mean, success, if you would have said going into his tenure, if he would have just won that Big Ten tournament in 2024, you know, I guess that was 2025, but that would have been success, right? If this year they win the Big Ten and don't win a national championship, still a major success, right? I know a lot of people said Final Four bus, blah, blah, blah,

because of where we were, obviously, but they only said that because he built the roster to be that, right? It wasn't because they had, you know, oh, that's the expectations at Michigan, right? And so, yeah, it's, you know, this is winning a national championship ever, let alone in year two is beyond exceeding expectations. I mean, at this point, I think you build the statue form already. You know, it's like, I mean, I don't know. It's pretty crazy.

But, man, so much fun. You hang the jersey? Yeah. I mean, got to get the Charlie May jersey, I think, for sure. I think you hang it. I think even if he's one year, one year, I think you hang it. I agree. I think you hang the yaks.

He didn't win player the year, but I think he's the best player in the country, and I wouldn't trade in for anybody. I mean, I said that a couple times throughout the season. You know, Hoosers great. Hoosier be good in the NBA. I wouldn't trade yaks with anybody in the country. 100% agree, man. 100%.

All right. Tanner, thanks for joining us. Appreciate you. Coming back and hanging out. Joel, thank you. Hey, it's good to be the champs, baby. It's good to be the champs, baby. It's good to be the champ. Simply known. Simple known. And that's national change. Pull it down. Pull it down. All right. For us, you can follow us at Blue by 90 on Twitter, Instagram, Instagram, Facebook, at Blueby90 podcast on YouTube and Blueby90.com. We appreciate you. Go Blue. Go Blue.