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The Final Four is scheduled for Saturday night in Indianapolis, as Michigan, Arizona, Illinois and UConn will battle their way to the national championship game scheduled for Monday at Lucas Oil Stadium.
But only one of those four teams will emerge as NCAA Tournament champions, and one college basketball legend has already chosen who will cut down the nets on Monday night.
Jimmer Fredette, the BYU great who had his “One Shining Moment” in March Madness in 2011, has been following the intense games throughout the tournament to get to this point. He knows exactly who he’ll travel the rest of the way with.
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Former Brigham Young basketball player Jimmer Fredette salutes during a ceremony to retire his number at halftime of a game between the Cougars and the Colorado Buffaloes at the Marriott Center in Provo, Utah, on Feb. 14, 2026. (Chris Gardner/Getty Images)
“Honestly, I have Michigan right now. I have Michigan winning everything,” he told Pak Gazette Digital in a recent interview, while highlighting his partnership with Coca-Cola and its “Fan Work Is Thirsty Work” campaign for the tournament.
It’s hard not to love everything the Midwest region’s No. 1 seed has been putting together in this tournament. The Wolverines, led by head coach Dusty May in his second season, have simply dominated the competition they have faced thus far.
In fact, Michigan has won by double digits in each of its four tournament games, including a rout of No. 6 Tennessee, 95-62, in the Elite Eight to clinch a spot in the Final Four. They are led by forward Yaxel Lendeborg, who averaged 15.2 points this season, but is adding 25 per game here in the tournament.
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“I think its length and size are unique,” Fredette explained. “They can play a lot of different ways, but that just poses a real problem for people, especially in the tournament. It’s hard to plan just one game. Obviously, they haven’t lost a lot of games this year, and if they lost a game, they were very close. You know when you play them, it’s going to be a fight. It’s going to be a battle.”
Fredette added that May coaching in the Final Four previously with Florida Atlantic University (2023) will also play a key factor for the Wolverines.
Yaxel Lendeborg of the Michigan Wolverines reacts after being fouled and scoring during the second half of the NCAA men’s basketball Elite Eight tournament against the Tennessee Volunteers at the United Center in Chicago, Ill., on March 29, 2026. Michigan won 95-62. (Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images)
But Arizona, the West Region’s No. 1 seed, could take on Michigan well on Saturday night. While Michigan has lost just three games this season, the Wildcats have only lost two in a tough Big 12 Conference schedule.
The way Fredette sees it, this Final Four matchup is basically a national championship matchup before the actual game.
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“Arizona is playing very well right now,” he said. “In my opinion, it’s kind of a national championship showdown against those two teams. They’re big, long, athletic. They’re playing great basketball. But you never know.”
As for the other matchup, No. 2 UConn, which is coming off a thrilling finish to defeat No. 1 Duke and No. 3 Illinois, Fredette has a winner there as well.
“Obviously, UConn and Illinois are playing well. I think Illinois, in my opinion, is going to beat UConn, and I think Illinois and Michigan will be in the finals, and Michigan will win the whole thing. So we’ll see. I’ll probably be completely wrong. That’s how it works in this tournament. But that’s what I see now, and Michigan is playing the best basketball there is to play.”
3×3 basketball athlete Jimmer Fredette speaks during the Team USA Media Summit at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City on April 17, 2024. (Dustin Satloff/Getty Images for USOPC)
As Fredette said, the tournament finds a way to make the craziest things happen on a basketball court, living up to the March Madness nickname.
It will be UConn-Illinois that begins the festivities in Indianapolis on Saturday night at 6:09 pm ET, followed by Michigan-Arizona.
THE PERFECT CUP FOR MARCH
From thrilling moments to overtime, this year’s men’s tournament has had it all in terms of intense, edge-of-your-seat basketball. But that can be thirsty work for fans across the country, which is why Coca-Cola launched its “Fan Work is Thirsty Work” campaign, which celebrates the fans behind the tournament’s Cinderella stories.
Who doesn’t love the heartwarming Cinderella story of the tournament? While there may still be top seeds left in the pool, moments like High Point beating Wisconsin in the first round, VCU surprising UNC in overtime and more have really fueled this year’s fun in March.
The Coca-Cola Glass Sipper is a glass shaped like a life-size 11 basketball shoe intended to host March Madness at this year’s tournament. (Coca-cola)
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And to make sure fans enjoy Coca-Cola the right way, the brand introduced the “Coca-Cola Glass Sipper,” an ode to the famous children’s story that is a custom glass shaped like a size 11 basketball shoe to celebrate the team and fan base whose tournament journey most defies expectations.
“That’s what March Madness is about: it’s about energy, and that’s what Coca-Cola wants to have in their campaign,” Fredette said. “They want to capture how much the fans put into each game, and for me, I love the fans. I love playing in front of a packed crowd. They were rowdy, they had so much loyalty to their schools and that obviously carries over to the March Madness tournament. Everyone is a part of it because everyone fills a pool. They want to see the Cinderella stories. They want to see their pools doing well. [and] They want to choose the right Cinderella. Coca-Cola wants to capture that.”
