National Championship: Michigan's title game history (video)

The Michigan Wolverines are finally back in college basketball's national championship game after a 20-year absence.

Those two decades have probably felt like an eternity considering how the Wolverines last trip to the title game ended. We'll get to that, but let's start back in 1965 as we recap each of Michigan's trips to the NCAA championship game.

1965: In a season that unfolded long before many current Wolverines fans were born, Michigan made its second consecutive trip to the Final Four, this time advancing to the championship game to face defending champion UCLA.

Michigan junior Cazzie Russell scored 28 points for the Wolverines, but 42 points from Bruins guard Gail Goodrich proved to be too much as UCLA won its second of what would become nine championships in 10 seasons under legendary coach John Wooden.

Here's a very cool highlight video from the contest, complete with narration and an orchestral soundtrack:

If you want to see more of what basketball was like in the sixties and have a thing for choppy video, here's some Zapruder-esque footage with more than 30 minutes of game action.

1976: After an 11-year hiatus, Michigan was back in the championship game, this time to face a young, brown-haired Bobby Knight and his Indiana Hoosiers.

The Wolverines carried a surprising six-point lead into halftime against the undefeated Hoosiers, but the second half didn't go nearly as well:

Indiana stormed back, scoring 57 points in the second half to cap an 86-68 victory in dominating fashion.

Here's the full game for anyone that's interested, as well as a video of 1976 Naismith College Player of the Year Scott May's not-so-subtle on court celebration as the final seconds ticked away. (Be sure to take note of Knight's oh-so-seventies sport coat and the frequent interjections from the in-house bass guitar. Good stuff all around.)

1989: Despite being named interim head coach just before the NCAA tournament, Steve Fisher started his head coaching career a perfect 6-0 in leading the Wolverines to their first national championship.

It took overtime against Seton Hall in the championship game, but all-time Michigan career points leader Glen Rice and Rumeal Robinson came through in the clutch, including two Robinson free throws that handed the Wolverines the title in the final seconds of overtime.

Here's the final three seconds of the game for anyone that wants to relive Robinson's historic free throws a time or two. (Or more, if you want. It's okay. Go crazy.)

1992: Here comes the Fab Five. In their first year in Ann Arbor, the freshman phenoms guided Michigan to the national title game to face defending champion Duke.

It was the first moment on the big stage for Juwan Howard, Chris Webber, Ray Jackson, Jimmy King and Jalen Rose, but it certainly isn't a moment that they, or Michigan fans, care to remember.

The Wolverines held a slim one-point lead at halftime, but Duke steamrolled Michigan in the second half, eventually winning 71-51.

It was an ugly end to the season for the Wolverines, particularly a final minute of the contest that looked more like street ball than a national championship game.

1993: Just a year later, the Fab Five was back in the championship game. This time Michigan played 39 minutes, 40 seconds of great basketball and had a chance to tie or take the lead against North Carolina with time winding down.

Then Michigan sophomore Chris Webber broke tens of thousands of hearts in Ann Arbor with possibly the most notorious use of a hand signal in college basketball history.

After a missed North Carolina free throw that left the Wolverines with a two-point deficit with 20 seconds to play, Webber grabbed the rebound, traveled (and got away with it), and then... well, you know what happened next.

Unfortunately for Webber and the Wolverines, that was the end. The Fab Five dispersed after the season, and Michigan fans began their 20-year wait for a return trip to the championship game.