Michigan rolls past Illinois to win the Big Ten title outright, boosting its hopes for the No. 1 seed

Michigan has left no doubt about its Big Ten superiority — the No. 3 Wolverines’ 84-70 romp Friday at No. 10 Illinois gives them an outright conference championship with two regular-season games remaining.

The win gives Michigan its first outright title since 2021, and it’s another top-shelf victory that boosts Michigan (27-2, 17-1 Big Ten) in its hunt for the NCAA Tournament’s No. 1 seed. This matters for the Wolverines because they would be in line for a potential Final Four matchup with the No. 4 seed instead of one of the two teams also vying for the No. 1 seed: Duke, which defeated Michigan last week to clinch the inside track, and Arizona.

Friday’s lone regular-season meeting between two perceived national contenders left Michigan looking much better, and Illinois a level lower. This was domination, a comfortable second half for a Michigan team that led by as many as 21.

Michigan sophomore Morez Johnson Jr., who transferred from Illinois in the offseason, heard a big cheer from fans at the State Farm Center and responded with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Big man Aday Mara also scored 19. Yaxel Lendeborg, the star of Michigan’s jumbo frontcourt, had 16 points and seven rebounds.

That interior helped the Wolverines to a 42-32 edge in points in the paint and 22 second-chance points. Keaton Wagler was 23 points ahead of Illinois (22-7, 13-5), which was projected as the No. 2 seed in Tuesday’s Bracket Watch but has lost two straight games and four of six. The Illini are heading in the wrong direction and may be headed toward the three-line.

The No. 1 seed also gets to choose its tournament path, and Michigan has requested Philadelphia as the site for the first weekend. Otherwise, the Wolverines will likely be placed in Buffalo, which is closer to Ann Arbor.