The defending National Champion Michigan Wolverines are set to take on the National Runner-Up in the UConn Huskies. Michigan won their season opener by 16 points, but they've got a few things they still need to clean up ahead of this matchup.

Both teams will look very different from last year's National Title Game, and it'll be a big early season test for each side. Let's dive into the rest of this early season matchup below.

UConn Huskies

UConn defeated Gardner-Webb 86-46 in their season opener. Star Guard Braylon Mullins had 20 points to lead the Huskies, who was a focal point of UConn's team last season. Silas Demary Jr. is another key returner for UConn, who had 5 point, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists in their season opening win.

Outside of those two key back court players who returned, UConn looks quite a bit different in the front court. Alex Karaban and Tarris Reed (former Michigan Wolverine) are now gone. Solo Ball is also out for all of this season after having wrist surgery.

Jayden Ross is a former depth piece who's stepping into the starting lineup for UConn, and he's a good 3 and D type player on the wing for them. Forward Nokolas Khamenia is a former 5-star recruit who transferred in from Duke. Center Najai Hines spent last year at Seton Hall, and he led the Big East in blocked shots last season. He should be a very good rim protector for the Huskies this season.

Like most UConn teams under Dan Hurley, the Huskies should play near elite level defense and rebound the ball at a high level as well. Outside of Braylon Mullins though, they don't have a lot of proven scorers so that's one thing to watch in this game.

Michigan Wolverines

Michigan defeated the Oakland Grizzlies 84-68 in their season opener. Roddy Gayle Jr. and Trey McKenney tied with the team lead at 17 points, and J.P. Estrella had 15 points and 12 rebounds in his Michigan debut. Michigan did play that game without their starting center in Moustapha Thiam, who was out with an illness. It's unclear if he'll be back for this one as of now.

Michigan played decently well against Oakland, but they gave up a whopping 21 offensive rebounds in that game, which is a major area of concern. You can't afford to give up that many second chance looks against good teams.

Michigan also only shot 21% from 3-point range in this game. That'll be another thing to watch in this one, because with Najai Hines guarding the rim, Michigan may have to do a lot of their scoring from the perimeter in this game if they want to win.

Overall, this should be a good early season game for Michigan. They'll face one of the best defenses in college basketball in just their second game of the season. A big question mark for this game is Moustapha Thiam and his availability. If Michigan is without him, it'll be tough to envision the Wolverines winning this game.

Even with him, it'll be an uphill battle. UConn's defense will be suffocating, and they will crash the boards very hard. With the way this Michigan team is built, I think it'll take some time for them to gel and learn how to play together with so many new pieces. UConn will have the advantage in this early season game, and it should be a very fun National Championship game rematch either way.

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