Jack BaerStaff writerThu, November 27, 2025 at 5:07 AM UTC·2 min readNo. 7 Michigan will exit the 2025 Players Era Festival with a big check and plenty of reason to think they're much more than the seventh-best team in the country.
The Wolverines wrapped up a dominant showing in Las Vegas with a 101-61 win over No. 12 Gonzaga, earning the $1 million NIL prize that made the tournament the most stacked of all the Feast Week events. The margin of victory in their three wins: 40 points against San Diego State, 30 points against No. 21 Auburn, 40 points against Gonzaga.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThat's 110 points' worth of wins in three consecutive days, two of them against ranked teams. Per ESPN, it's the first time a team has posted consecutive 30-point wins against ranked opponents in the AP Poll era (since 1948).
On Wednesday, Michigan shot the lights out with 36-of-60 shooting (13-of-27 from 3-point range) while also outrebounding the Bulldogs 44-38. Yaxel Lendeborg led all scorers with 20 points and was one of five Wolverines to score in double-figures. Point guard Elliot Cadeau, meanwhile, had five points and 13 assists.
It took less than four minutes for Michigan to build a double-digit lead and it kept hammering from there. By halftime, the score was 59-23.
It was an impressive performance at a tournament that featured the Nos. 3, 7, 8, 12, 14, 15, 17 and 21 teams in the country, plus more major programs like Kansas, Oregon, Baylor and Notre Dame. However, that stacked field also created a major issue for the tournament, as its format prevented No. 17 Tennessee from playing for the $1 million despite taking down No. 3 Houston.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe tournament has since said it's open to a format change for next season, when it expands from 16 to 24 teams.
That doesn't take much away from what Michigan did, though, as the Wolverines simply pulverized every team in front of them. We'll see how the rankings respond next week.
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