UConn vs. Michigan prediction, pick, odds, spread: Dan Hurley eyes national championship game revenge — SkimNews
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- UConn faces Michigan in a rematch of the 2026 National Championship game on Friday, November 6 at 8 p.m. ET at TD Garden in Boston, televised on TNT and streamed on Fubo.
- Moustapha Thiam is expected to suit up for Michigan after missing the opener against Oakland with an illness, and the 7-foot-2 Cincinnati transfer must pair with UConn's Seton Hall transfer Na'jai Hines as the two programs replace a combined five frontcourt NBA players.
- Michigan believes it has the best backcourt in college basketball, and UConn claims the same, with Silas Demary Jr. and Elliot Cadeau both front-runners for the Bob Cousy Award and Demary billed as an elite 6-foot-5 point-of-attack defender.
- Purdue was held in clamps for long stretches by a UConn defense that looked far ahead of schedule in the preseason, while Michigan's defense is not yet connected and the source questions whether it is a top-25 or top-50 unit.
- Brandon McCoy Jr., Michigan's five-star freshman, blew out his knee on the Wolverines' international tour, cutting into a bench that the source still sees behind UConn's potential first-round pick Colben Landrew.
- Dan Hurley's UConn opened as a three-point favorite before the line ballooned to six points; the pick is Michigan +6, though the source still insists 'UConn ain't losing in Boston' and would pivot to Hurley if the spread fell inside two possessions.
- ESPN reported No. 5 Michigan's win over No. 2 UConn as the Wolverines' highest-ranked win in program history, the result of the November 6 rematch.
Why it matters: Michigan's win over No. 2 UConn — the program's highest-ranked victory ever — undercuts the preview's core call that Hurley would not lose in Boston, built on UConn's deeper bench and ahead-of-schedule defense. The preview flagged Michigan's unconnected defense and the two teams' five combined NBA frontcourt departures as swing factors; Michigan won anyway.
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