The stage is set. UConn and Michigan will play for the national championship in men\u2019s basketball on Monday night in Indianapolis.<\/p>\n
The No. 2-seeded Huskies, seeking a third title in four seasons, dispatched No. seed 3 Illinois 71-62<\/a>. Top-seeded Michigan routed fellow No. 1<\/a> Arizona 91-73, adding a fourth blowout win to its five-game run through this NCAA Tournament.<\/p>\n The results on Saturday ensured a historic result in the title game. No program has won three championships in four years since John Wooden\u2019s UCLA teams more than years ago. And it\u2019s been longer than a quarter-century since a Big Ten team \u2014 Michigan State in 2000 \u2014 hoisted the trophy.<\/p>\n The coaches<\/p>\n UConn\u2019s Dan Hurley, in his eighth season with the Huskies, is 5-0 in the Final Four and 18-3 in the NCAA Tournament. A win Monday for the 53-year-old would deliver a third national championship and pull him even with Roy Williams, Bob Knight and Jim Calhoun \u2014 behind only John Wooden (10), Mike Krzyzewski (five) and Adolph Rupp (four). Hurley\u2019s career exploded in his fifth year with the Huskies after he spent eight seasons in charge at Wagner and Rhode Island.<\/p>\n For Michigan, 49-year-old Dusty May is coaching in his home state as he seeks to direct the Wolverines to their second national championship. Michigan won its lone title in 1989, before May attended high school. He graduated from Indiana and got his start in college hoops as a student manager in Bloomington under Bob Knight. After seven seasons at Florida Atlantic and a trip to the Final Four three years ago, this marks his first involvement in a national championship game.<\/p>\n X-factors<\/p>\n UConn guard Braylon Mullins: His job for the Huskies is simple: Deliver the daggers. Mullins hit one of the greatest shots<\/a> in NCAA Tournament history<\/a>, a 35-foot 3-pointer with less than one second to play, to push UConn past top-seeded Duke in the East Regional final. The 6-foot-6 freshman from Greenfield, Indiana<\/a>, buried one from long range Saturday in the final against Illinois to give his team a seven-point lead. He scores 12 points per game and shoots 33.7 percent from distance. But Mullins\u2019 impact is greater than numbers can illustrate. Hurley has nicknamed him the \u201cBringer of Rain.\u201d<\/p>\n Michigan center Aday Mara: The 7-3 Spaniard owned the paint against Arizona on Saturday in the second semifinal with 26 points and nine rebounds. Mara leads the Big Ten in blocked shots and averages 12.2 points and 6.8 rebounds. He rates as a centerpiece on the defensive end and a luxury for the Wolverines on offense, forming a lethal tandem with Elliot Cadeau on lobs to the rim. How Mara matches against Tarris Reed ought to shape the battle on Monday near the basket.<\/p>\n What\u2019s at stake?<\/p>\n