National Media Predict Michigan vs. Arizona Outcome

The day has arrived: The Final Four. Michigan will take the stage in Indianapolis on Saturday night with a spot for a national title appearance on the line. The Wolverines will have a heavyweight fight as they take on the Wildcats of Arizona.

Both teams are similar and appear to be evenly matched. Both Michigan and Arizona have size, will battle down low. and have playmakers all over the court.

Ahead of Saturday's tip, here is what some national media believe will happen.

Sports Illustrated

SI had a three-man panel and all three writers took the Wildcats in the game. With that being said, all three individuals selected Arizona to win the national title, too. Which further proves what a lot of people have been saying, that whoever wins this heavyweight fight will likely win the national title.

Pat Forde - Arizona
Bryan Fischer - Arizona
Kevin Sweeney - Arizona

CBS Sports

CBS Sports had a six-man roundtable, and it appears they favor Arizona in this matchup. Four of them took the Wildcats to beat the Wolverines, while two analysts stuck with Michigan in the game. In their write-up, they believe the first half will determine the winner, and apparently, four of them believe the 'Cats will win the first 20 minutes.

Gary Parrish - Michigan
Matt Norlander - Arizona
Chip Patterson - Arizona
David Cobb - Arizona
Cameron Salerno - Arizona
Isaac Trotter - Michigan

ESPN

ESPN's two-man panel was split on the game. One of the analysts took Arizona while the other has the Maize and Blue winning.

Jeff Borzello - Arizona (82-80)
Myron Medcalf - Michigan 78-76

What Michigan needs to do to win

The Wolverines have pretty much dominated their way to a Final Four appearance. Even when Michigan had poor play from Aday Mara and Morez Johnson against Alabama, the Wolverines had their bench step up. Michigan has shown it can win in a multitude of ways, but this will be the Wolverines' biggest challenge yet.

Michigan guard Nimari Burnett (4) cuts down net to celebrate 95-62 win over Tennessee — Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Wolverines need their stars to perform and can't have a letdown game. Yaxel Lendeborg has been excellent and Michigan needs another good outing from him. But the Wolverines need some others to emerge. We've seen Roddy Gayle and Trey McKenney shine, and Michigan could use both of them to have another big game — but an X -Factor could arise.

All eyes will be on Michigan's bigs against Arizona's. However, watch Nimari Burnett in this game. He is one of Michigan's best shooters and the 'Cats may not have him on their radar at first. If Michigan can get Burnett to score 15-plus in this game, hit a couple of threes, it might be the Wolverines' night to win.