Michigan Might Have Been Too Much for a Healthy Iowa State Basketball Team

Could the Iowa State Cyclones have competed against the Michigan Wolverines with a healthy Joshua Jefferson?

Apr 4, 2026; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Michigan Wolverines center Aday Mara (15) high fives forward Yaxel Lendeborg (23) during the second half in a semifinal of the Final Four of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium. | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

With the Final Four coming to a close on Saturday night, the National Championship Game will be set for Monday in an exciting matchup between the Michigan Wolverines and the UConn Huskies. However, for the Iowa State Cyclones, they might not have been able to compete with the Wolverines after seeing their performance in the Final Four. 

As the NCAA tournament comes to a close, a new national champion will be crowned on Monday night. The Cyclones were a team that was hoping to be in that conversation. Coming into the tournament, the team had a lot of momentum. Furthermore, it seemed like they got a decent draw in the Midwest Region, and a matchup with the Wolverines felt inevitable. 

Unfortunately, Iowa State saw their star forward Joshua Jefferson go down with an injury in the opening minutes of their first game. While the Cyclones were able to win their first two games, they were then overpowered by the Tennessee Volunteers in the Sweet 16.

If the team had Jefferson in that game, it felt like they would have been able to win and set up an Elite 8 matchup with Michigan. However, based on what the Wolverines have been able to accomplish in the NCAA tournament, that game might not have gone well for the Cyclones. 

Wolverines Might Have Been Too Much for Cyclones

Iowa State Cyclones forward Joshua Jefferson | Jeff Le-Imagn Images

The Final Four matchup between Michigan and Arizona felt like it had the potential to go down as one of the best games not only of the year, but in recent memory. These were two teams playing at a very high level, each with impressive resumes. 

For most of the year, the Wildcats were considered to be the team to beat not only in the Big 12, but the entire nation. The Cyclones played twice against them, once in the regular season and once in the Big 12 tournament. The game in the Big 12 tournament was a thriller, with Arizona winning on a buzzer-beater. That loss provided some optimism that the Cyclones could hang with the best of the best. 

However, after seeing what the Wolverines were able to do to Arizona in the Final Four, they have now entered the conversation as one of the most dominant teams in recent memory. It is hard to find a flaw with this Michigan team, and even with Jefferson, the Cyclones might have simply run into a buzzsaw. While it would have been nice to see what a healthy Iowa State could have done against the Wolverines, they simply might have been too much for them.