The first time Michigan walks back into Crisler Center this season, it will do so carrying the biggest banner in the sport and a roster that looks different in some important places.
The defending national champions open their 2026-27 exhibition schedule Sunday against Eastern Michigan, with tipoff set for 2 p.m. and the game streaming live on B1G+ with Michigan’s StudentU broadcast team. It’s the Wolverines’ first game at Crisler Center since finishing off a 37-3 season with a 69-63 win over UConn in the NCAA championship game. That run also brought home both the Big Ten regular-season and tournament titles.
Sunday begins a three-game preseason slate for Michigan. After Eastern Michigan, the Wolverines host Oregon State on Friday, Oct. 16, then meet Houston in The Battleground 2k26 at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids on Sunday, Oct.
- The regular season follows on Monday, Nov. 2, when Oakland comes to Crisler Center.
It will also be the first Crisler Center game for Mike Boynton Jr. as the David and Meredith Kaplan Men’s Basketball Head Coach. Boynton was promoted after spending the previous two seasons on Michigan’s staff, during which the Wolverines went 64-13, won two Big Ten Tournament titles, claimed the 2026 Big Ten regular-season crown and finished with the NCAA national championship.
The matchup brings a familiar local flavor, too. Michigan and Eastern Michigan are separated by less than 10 miles, and the teams last played in the 2023-24 season, when the Wolverines won 83-66 at Crisler Center.
Eastern Michigan’s Billy Donlon is back in Ann Arbor as well. The first-year Eagles coach spent the 2016-17 season on John Beilein’s staff as an assistant and was hired as Eastern Michigan’s 31st head coach in March 2026. He arrives with nine seasons of head coaching experience.
Donlon’s lone season at Michigan was a productive one. Known for his defense, he helped the Wolverines go 26-12, win the 2017 Big Ten Tournament championship and reach the NCAA Sweet 16 before leaving for Northwestern.
Michigan’s title team brought back some important pieces, but it also lost three 2026 NBA lottery picks in Morez Johnson Jr. (No.
9), Yaxel Lendeborg (No. 11) and Aday Mara (No. 12).
The returning core is led by senior Elliot Cadeau and sophomore Trey McKenney, both of whom landed on the Preseason All-Big Ten team.
Cadeau, last season’s Final Four Most Outstanding Player, is back to run the show. He started all 40 games a year ago, averaged 10.5 points and a team-high 5.9 assists, and finished with 234 assists for his second straight season with at least 200. In the postseason, he scored in double figures in seven of nine games and matched his career high with 19 points in the championship win over UConn.
McKenney gave Michigan a steady scoring punch off the bench as a freshman. He appeared in all 40 games, averaged 9.9 points and 2.8 rebounds, and led the team with 68 made 3-pointers. He scored in double figures 26 times, shot 39.1 percent from deep and 89.5 percent at the line.
Michigan has already started shaping this roster in game settings. The Wolverines took a nine-day summer trip through Lithuania and Croatia, playing three international exhibitions and ending the tour with an 84-81 comeback over Serbian professional club Mega Superbet. McKenney scored 25 points in that one, Cadeau added 15, and the pair accounted for 19 of Michigan’s 22 fourth-quarter points.
The Wolverines also added three experienced transfers: J.P. Estrella from Tennessee, Moustapha Thiam from Cincinnati and Jalen Reed.
In Other News...
Michigan's Exhibition Opener Suddenly Carries Two Huge Roster Questions
Michigans first exhibition game arrives Sunday against Eastern Michigan, and it now has a little more intrigue than a typical preseason tune-up. Head coach Mike Boynton Jr. said Roddy Gayle is expected to play, barring any last-minute changes, and the Wolverines are also hoping Jalen Reed will be cleared in time as they begin sorting out the early shape of the rotation.
The timing matters because this is the start of a short exhibition runway that also includes Oregon State and Houston before the regular season opens Nov. 2 against Oakland. Even in games that do not count, getting Gayle on the floor and Reed available would give Michigan a better read on how quickly the roster can settle, and it would answer two questions the staff would clearly prefer not to carry much longer. [Read more 🡒]
Michigans First Look Comes With Two Rotation Questions Still Looming
Michigan got a clearer picture of its preseason opener picture this week as Mike Boynton Jr. offered an update on availability before the matchup with Eastern Michigan. Several familiar names, including Moustapha Thiam, Roddy Gayle Jr., Kenny Noland and Ricky Liburd, are expected to be in the mix, giving the Wolverines a chance to start sorting out roles and combinations as the exhibition schedule begins.
Even so, the roster still has a few moving parts. Oscar Goodman and Jalen Reed remain uncertain, while Marcus Moller, Lincoln Cosby and Brandon McCoy Jr. are out for health and injury reasons, leaving a couple of rotation spots unsettled as Michigan tries to get a first real look at how its depth will hold up. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan Just Sent A Big Message In The In-State QB Race
Michigan has made another move to keep the states top talent close to home, this time extending a scholarship offer to Traverse City West quarterback Brayden Tillman. The rising prospect has drawn attention for the traits that tend to play well in Ann Arbor: size, arm strength, pocket presence and enough athletic ability to fit into what Michigan likes to do offensively.
For a staff that continues to emphasize in-state recruiting, the offer is as much about relationships as it is about evaluation. Tillman gives the Wolverines another local name to track in the quarterback conversation, and it also reinforces how seriously Michigan is treating the battle for elite homegrown talent as the cycle unfolds. [Read more 🡒]