Michigan men's basketball will take the court on Monday night to begin their 2026-27 campaign. The Wolverines are coming off a national title season a year ago, but there is a new cast of characters leading Michigan this season. And that starts at head coach.

Dusty May shockingly left Michigan after two seasons to coach the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA. The Wolverines promoted Mike Boynton Jr. as the new head coach, and Boynton Jr. went out and landed a few new assistant coaches.

While the Wolverines will have some new coaches, along with new players, the goal is the same for Michigan: Make a run in the NCAA Tournament. And this season, the Final Four will be played close to home. Detroit is the home of the Final Four this season, but Boynton Jr. insists that doesn't matter. The game could be played in Mars and he would want to be there.

"I mean, I don't know if, like, being in Detroit is more motivating, right? Like, I think you're always motivated when you're playing at this level to go as far as you can and get into the Final Four, whether it was, certainly it would be exciting to, more exciting to play closer, but, you know, if they told me the Final Four was gonna be played on Mars, I'd like to get there too," Bonyton Jr. said.

Creating their own legacy

Michigan returns a few players from its national title team. But only three of them made a big impact, and that's Elliot Cadeau, Trey McKenney and Roddy Gayle Jr. While the Wolverines are technically the defending champions, Boynton Jr. doesn't want his team thinking about that this season.

Of course, anyone who plays Michigan will give the Wolverines their best shot. But this season is about creating their own legacy. Guys like J.P. Estrella, Moustapha Thiam, and Jalen Reed, among the freshmen, aren't defending anything since they weren't on the team last year.

For them, it's about winning this season and instilling a championship culture in 2026-27.

"I really believe, like, it's best that we don't think about the national championship team because that's not this team," said Boynton Jr. "And J.P. [Estrella] always comes to mind because we played against him. Like, he lost to the national champions. He didn't win a national championship last year. You know what I mean? So, he's not defending anything. He's trying to create and establish what the legacy of the team he's playing on at Michigan is going to be.

"And the same for Mustapha and the same for Jalen Reed, who didn't even play an NCAA tournament last year, or I don't think has played an NCAA tournament in his career. And so, for those, I would hope we're mature enough, particularly for the new guys, to understand that we've got to create our own legacy. And that includes me. You know, I'm not the defending national championship head coach, either. I was an assistant coach on that team."

Michigan will host Oakland on Monday night and the Wolverines' season will be underway.

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