CHICAGO -- No. 1 seed Michigan stomped No. 6 seed Tennessee 95-62 in emphatic fashion to set up an epic Final Four clash with No. 1 seed Arizona. It's the first time since the 2008 national championship game tilt between Kansas and Memphis where two teams that have at least a +650 points differential will meet, per CBS Sports research.
Michigan had every single answer to the test on Sunday. The Wolverines used a 21-0 run -- tied for its biggest spurt of the season -- to send Tennessee to the shadow realm using transition dominance, a vicious defense and just an avalanche of passes to slice Tennessee to its core.
Yaxel Lendeborg sealed his Most Outstanding Player from the Midwest Regional with a 27-point, seven-rebound, four-assist masterpiece, and every single Michigan rotation player brought something to the table. Morez Johnson (12 points, five rebounds) was up to the task physically against Tennessee's enormous frontcourt. Elliot Cadeau dished 10 dimes.
It's the third-straight season that Rick Barnes will exit stage left in the Elite Eight. It's tied for the largest loss of the Barnes era, but nobody was beating Michigan on a day like this.
Selection Sunday feels like a lifetime ago. In reality, it's been just two weeks since the field of 68 was unveiled, but since the reveal, Arizona and Michigan seemed to be hurtling toward a Final Four collision -- a basketball cornucopia of brawn, muscle and exorbitant talent. Visions of what it would look like between the Big 12's best and the Big Ten's best aren't a dream anymore.
The 33-point drubbing is tied for the worst loss in Rick Barnes' career.
Largest loss in an NCAA Tournament game for Tennessee in school history.
Largest win by any team in Elite 8 since ... Michigan defeated Virginia by 37 in 1989.
Michigan just registered the biggest win in a Elite Eight or regional final since 1989.
Read on below for more takeaways from Michigan's dominant win on Sunday.
Anything but a Final Four appearance would've felt like a disappointment for this Michigan team. We won't have to worry about that narrative, but it's hard to watch what Michigan just did to the Vols and question whether it has two more wins in its bag. Even with some generational teams heading to Indianapolis, Michigan might be the cream of the crop.
The Tennessee star senior guard was up to the challenge against big, bad Michigan. Gillespie had to take tough shots all night, but he deposited 21 points with four treys and had one enormous and-1 dunk over Lendeborg. Gillespie's lone season in Knoxville was well worth it.
When LJ Cason went down with a season-ending knee injury in the Illinois game in February, Michigan's depth was called into question. But in reality, Dusty May has just tapped the Lendeborg button so much more. Michigan believes it has the best player in the country. He's played like it in the NCAA Tournament.
Selection Sunday feels like a lifetime ago. In reality, it's been just two weeks since the field of 68 was unveiled, but since the reveal, Arizona and Michigan seemed to be hurtling toward a Final Four collision. A basketball cornucopia of brawn, muscle and exorbitant talent. Visions of what it would look like between the Big 12's best and the Big Ten's best aren't a dream anymore.
It's here now after No. 1 seed Michigan stomped No. 6 seed Tennessee 95-62 in emphatic fashion to set up an epic Final Four clash. It's the first time since the 2008 National Championship tilt between Kansas and Memphis where two teams that have at least a +650 points differential will meet, per CBS Sports research.
Michigan had every single answer to the test on Sunday. The Wolverines used a 21-0 run — tied for its biggest spurt of the season — to send Tennessee to the shadow realm using transition dominance, a vicious defense and just an avalanche of passes to slice Tennessee to its core.
Yaxel Lendeborg sealed his Most Outstanding Player from the Midwest Regional with a 27-point, seven-rebound, four-assist masterpiece, and every single Michigan rotation player brought something to the table. Morez Johnson (12 points, five rebounds) was up to the task physically against Tennessee's enormous frontcourt. Elliot Cadeau dished 10 dimes.
It's the third-straight season that Rick Barnes will exit stage left in the Elite Eight. It's tied for the largest loss of the Barnes era, but nobody was beating Michigan on a day like this.
This is an obliteration. Michigan is 20 minutes from Indianapolis after destroying Tennessee with ball movement, ball movement and more ball movement in the first half. Michigan has ripped off haymaker after haymaker. Yaxel Lendeborg has 15 points, four assists and three rebounds.
Tennessee has no real pathway to create a good shot.
Michigan-Arizona feels imminent. It might be the National Championship game, 48 hours early.
Michigan unfurled a 21-0 run to put Tennessee into serious danger mode. Its tied for the longest run of the season for the Wolverines.
Yaxel Lendeborg? Pretty good at basketball.
This officiating crew is off to a rough start in the opening stanza.
7-6 Vols at the first media timeout.
For Michigan: Keep Tennessee off the offensive glass
Tennessee is the best offensive rebounding team in the country. There's real questions about if Tennessee can score without those second-chance opportunities. If Michigan just limits Tennessee to a moderate amount of offensive boards, it's in good shape.
For Tennessee: Don't let Michigan run
Michigan is terrifying in transition. Tennessee's best bet is dragging this one into the mud.
Tennessee big man Felix Okpara and Ohio State guard Roddy Gayle Jr. grew up together at Ohio State, and they'll face off with a Final Four on the line.
"It's just a crazy moment; two guys from Ohio State, we're playing together in the Elite Eight for two different teams," Gayle told CBS Sports. "It's obviously fun to play against somebody that you essentially grew up with."
