Welcome back, college sports fans to the final Expectation of the GCR’s 2025-2026 season. Congratulations to the UCLA Bruins for winning their first ever NCAA championship game. They did it in splendid fashion, beating the Vegas-favored Gamecocks on both sides of the ball and from tip to buzzer. With the GCR’s correct prediction, we ended the Women’s postseason (conference tourneys and three tournaments) with a respectable 206-79 (.723) record. We also congratulate West Virginia coming from behind to take down Oklahoma in the Men’s CBC title game. In the Men’s NIT, Auburn jumped to a 21-point first half lead only to see Tulsa take it back in the second. A 5-second inbound violation (with two timeouts remaining) with just seconds to play by Tulsa allowed Auburn a trey to tie it and force OT. In the free basketball, Auburn (congratulations!) took control to win. The GCR picked West Virginia but had a No Prediction for the NIT. That moved the Men’s postseason record to 193-93 (.675) with a single game to play. Overall, we are now at 399-171 (.700). We will either end up 400-171 (.701) or 399-172 (.699).
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After posting Expectations (along with one Evaluation) for 35 days straight, we have the same combination of melancholy and relief that we have on College Football’s Playoff Championship Game Day is here. On the one hand, we do this as a hobby. Honestly, I, G, would continue tracking all of these games even if we couldn’t post anymore. The GCR started out as something just for me and my closest friends and that feeling is still there for us. On the other hand, whether it’s Bowl season or Tournament season, there is an extra push for additional posts to try to spread some of the excitement we feel to our readers. Thank you, sincerely, for reading the daily posts – our readership has increased over the last month, so maybe more frequent posts are good things, certainly something we can look at for our next season.
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But today, in addition to congratulating the champions, is about the final game of the season: the Men’s NCAA Championship Game. Let’s look at a breakdown:
| Category | UCONN Huskies | Michigan Wolverines |
| Championships | NCAA: 6 (1999, 2004, 2011, 2014, 2023-24) NIT: 1 (1988) | NCAA: 1 (1988) NIT: 3 (1984, 1987, 2004) |
| Conf Tourney Championships | 11 (ECAC: 1976, 1979 Big East: 1990, 1996, 1998-99, 2002, 2004, 2011, 2024 AAC: 2016 | 4 (1998, 2017-18, 2025) |
| Reg Season Championships | 33 (NEC: 1925-26, 1928, 1941, 1944 Yankee: 1948-49, 1951-60, 1963-67, 1970 Big East: 1990, 1994-96, 1998-99, 2002, 2005-06, 2024) | 17 (Big Ten: 1921, 1926-27, 1929, 1948, 1964-66, 1974, 1977, 1985-86, 2012, 2014, 2021, 2026) |
| NCAA Tournament History (Including 2026) | Appearances: 35th Sweet 16s: 21st Elite Eights: 14th Final Fours: 8th Championship Games: 7th (6-0) | Appearances: 33rd Sweet 16s: 20th Elite Eights: 16th Final Fours: 9th Championship Games: 7th (1-5) |
| Season Game Averages | 76.9-65.1 | 87.8-69.7 |
| All-Time Record (First Season) | 1890-1031 (.647) 1900-01 (126 seasons) | 1766-1129 (.610) 1908-09 (118 seasons) |
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The tale of the tape shows fairly equal teams, at least until the championship game. UCONN is undefeated in that spot and Michigan has only won once in the same 6 games coming in. We know history doesn’t necessarily indicate the future in sports, but to go 6-0 against the other best team in the country means something. The GCR has Michigan ranked #1 at 36-3 after playing the 3rd most difficult schedule. UCONN is #4 at 34-5 including multiple losses to Big East champion St Johns while playing the 24th most challenging slate. The GCR has Michigan winning by about 10 points. We think from watching them play that they are the real deal, meaning the very good Huskies will have to control the game forcing Michigan to make difficult shots to win. It should be a great game to watch. Here is the official prediction.
| Tour/Round | Time | April 6th Men’s Games (All Times Eastern) | Conf | Seeds | Pred |
| NCAA/FINAL | 8:50 | UCONN (34-5/4) / Michigan (36-3/1) | BEast/B10 | 2/1 | MICH |
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We hope you have enjoyed the daily predictions this postseason as much as we have enjoyed producing them. Tune in tomorrow for the Women’s Final Top 363. On Wednesday we will post the Men’s Top 365. Thursday, we will post our final Women’s Conference Comparisons followed with the Men on Friday. Our final post of the 2025-26 GCR season will be Saturday. That one will be something we have been thinking about but haven’t done yet – a combination ranking of both Men’s and Women’s teams.
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During our four-to-six-week break, we will be coding the 2026-2027 football GCR. While we haven’t finalized the schedule yet, the first post will be at some point in May and will be about the 19 (so far) conference realignments for the upcoming season.
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We cannot express how much we thank you for reading and, especially, sharing with others. As we said before, this is a hobby and we do this because we want to. We appreciate you reading because you want to. We appreciate your comments and questions that you take time to write. We appreciate your willingness and time to share with others, JoJo and G.
