Who’s college hoops’ best team? Michigan makes case in Players Era title romp

LAS VEGAS — Complete and utter dominance. 

A three-day performance unlike anything college basketball has ever seen. 

The Michigan Wolverines, ranked seventh entering this week, just pulled off the most impressive regular-season multi-team event display … ever. 

This town has a lot of must-see attractions. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, all of them were overshadowed by the boys in Maize and Blue.

First, they walloped San Diego State by 40. 

Less than 24 hours later, the Wolverines broiled No. 21 Auburn by 30. 

But that wasn’t enough. Because on Wednesday night in the Players Era championship game against No. 12 Gonzaga, Dusty May’s team eviscerated the Zags 101-61 to win the deepest regular-season event in history — and set records in the process. 

How ridiculous was Michigan in Vegas? This ridiculous: These Wolverines are the first team — ever — to beat ranked teams by 30-plus points in back-to-back games.

It had never been done in men’s Division I history.

Until Wednesday. 

It was Michigan’s largest margin over a ranked team in program history as well, besting a 37-point drubbing against No. 3 Purdue in 1987. I’ve got even more: Entering this week, Michigan had played 536 games in its history against ranked opponents. Only two times had it ever beaten one by at least 30 points.

It doubled that number on back-to-back nights. 

Three wins in three days by 110 points, all the wins coming against schools that not only made last season’s NCAA Tournament, but were programs with Final Four runs in the previous four years (Gonzaga in 2021, San Diego State in 2023, Auburn in 2025). Michigan averaged 99.0 points at this event and held teams to 62.3.

The Players Era Championship hoped to make a lot of noise and promised to pay out a lot of money in its second year with an 18-team field and 27 games spread out over the week of Thanksgiving. It got some really good games, but more than that, it got a huge headline with Michigan’s monstrous strut to a title.

I’ve never seen a team do this in the regular season before, let alone on a stage this big. 

“We felt like we were on the cusp of a perfect storm,” May told CBS Sports. “I think a couple of the buttons that we pushed in the last week or so made big, made a big difference. But most importantly, I think our guys got used to playing with each other.” 

What do they get for their work? An additional $1 million in NIL cash in the weeks to come. 

The torching of Gonzaga was beyond any and all expectations, even with Michigan’s previous two demolitions in the prior 48 hours. Mark Few’s program entered the day 7-0 with six wins by double figures and averaging 95.0 points, having defeated teams by 32.9 points on average. It was wrecking everyone in its path.

Then Michigan ripped the limbs off.

“I don’t think we competed once we got punched in the mouth to start the game,” Few said, later adding, “we got absolutely throttled. I’ve never been involved in anything like that. That said, we’ve had an incredible November up until this point, two hours ago.”

The Wolverines just won two in a row by scoring 100 or more points for the first time since 1989. It’s also the first team since Arizona in 2001-02 to get two wins in a season by 30-plus against ranked competition, but again, no team had ever done it in consecutive games, let alone consecutive nights. 

It’s not just what Michigan did for itself, it’s what slammed on Gonzaga’s head. The 40-point loss was Mark Few’s worst and the biggest margin for the program since 1990 against the famed Loyola Marymount team with Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble. Michigan’s size and relentless action around the rim on the defensive end caused Gonzaga to be helpless — a Zags team that has been owning teams in the paint the previous three weeks.

“We literally couldn’t generate any scoring there at all, all night,” Few said. “Just crazy, as good as we’ve been this year.”

The irony of Michigan beating three good teams by an average of 36.7 points is how this team barely squeaked by TCU and Wake Forest (two teams that may not even make the NCAA Tournament) just a couple of weeks ago.

“A lot of the guys on the team felt like we were being disrespected,” Yaxel Lendeborg said. “Today was about putting the world on notice that we’re the best team in the nation.”

The notice should be received. I’ve been consistent on this: When Arizona won three of its first five games against top-15 competition, I said and wrote that the Wildcats deserved to be No. 1.

Now Michigan ranks No. 1 in every mainstream metric, sits at 7-0 and has four wins against top-50 competition. Given the outlandish nature of what the Wolverines just did on the Vegas Strip, this team deserves to have the 1 next to its name ASAP. 

Whether or not it gets it, the bigger story is that college basketball is not even a month into what should be one of its best seasons in recent memory. Purdue, Arizona and Duke have all had moments that give them credibility to being the best team. Now it’s Michigan’s turn. Teams like Houston, UConn, Iowa State, Louisville, Tennessee, Gonzaga and more aren’t that far behind. 

“We were learning how geared up teams are going to be to play us, because the number next to our name, I don’t think we anticipated that we would be that big of a game for TCU,” May said.

Something flipped in a huge way before Michigan got on the plane to fly to Vegas. Lest you think this was a charter trip, think again. The team that just got $2 million richer had round-trip commercial flights on Delta. They celebrated their new perch in college hoops deep into Wednesday night, but it was short-lived.

The team bus left the hotel at 3:45 a.m. for Harry Reid Airport. A predawn flight awaited on Thanksgiving morning. That’s Michigan’s mindset. And how’s this for a scary thought: They’ve got so much room to grow. If this is Michigan not at its best, it can be all-time good if it finds its ceiling.