The Michigan women's basketball team, recently ranked No. 5 in the preseason AP poll — the highest-ever mark in program history — is aiming high in the 2026-27 season.
On Oct. 6 in Rosemont, Ill., junior guards Syla Swords and Olivia Olson didn't mince words on their expectations for the 2026-27 season: "National Championship," they told The Michigan Daily at Big Ten Media Day.
The Wolverines' impressive junior class – Swords, Olson, guard Mila Holloway, wing Te'Yala Delfosse, forward Kendall Dudley, and forward Aaiyanna Dunbar — have achieved many goals that Michigan's historic Class of 2022 accomplished. Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight, hosting NCAA Tournament games, program records for wins and Big Ten wins.
The current junior class came to Michigan to raise the bar, and do things they haven't been done before. They've set new standards, tying program records for wins, regular season wins, Big Ten wins, and total points in a season. They earned the program's highest-ever NCAA Tournament seed at No. 2. Now, that class has contributed to the Wolverines' first top-five preseason ranking.
They want to hang banners and make history, and this season, that means ascending to the top and hoisting conference and national championship trophies.
Barnes Arico put it more gently, but still reinforced winning a title on the Big Ten Network broadcast .
"Our goal is always Big Ten championship and to advance as far as we can in that NCAA Tournament," Barnes Arico said.
The Wolverines' historic 2025-26 campaign saw a second-place regular-season Big Ten finish and the program's second Elite Eight. Yet, it ended with a 36-point loss to No. 1 seed Texas that has kept a sour taste in their mouths ever since.
That loss is serving as a reminder that Michigan, while it is the preseason No. 5 team in the AP poll, still has yet to achieve those elusive goals.
"We always talk about leaving your legacy, and you talk about the first Sweet 16 and the first Elite Eight, and that was the Naz Hillmon era, and Syla Swords, Olivia Olson, those guys came because they watched Naz Hillmon achieve what she achieved, but they know they want to do something different," Barnes Arico said. "We want to continue to advance in the NCAA Tournament. We want to continue to have an opportunity to win our league, win a Big Ten Championship."
Hillmon was a generational talent, a two-time All-American who paved the way and whose jersey is lofted in the rafters of Crisler Center. The current Wolverines are arguably even better than Hillmon's Elite Eight squad. Olson was named to the All-American third team last season, and both Swords and Olson were first team All-Big Ten. The duo are preseason All-Big Ten, and Holloway was named to the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year preseason watch list.
"By the time it's all said and done, they'll probably have done more than we did," Hillmon said March 28 following the Wolverines' Sweet Sixteen victory. "And that's something that I'm just so proud of, you know, I feel like, hopefully, I was a part of, you know, getting some of the girls here and wanting to wear Michigan across their chest, but I'm excited to see what's to come for them. And I think that when it's all said and done, they'll probably be the best."
This year's Wolverines have big goals for their 2026-27 campaign in order to become the best. Yet their shared experiences developing as freshmen and sophomores together, and now being a team composed of upperclassmen leadership should deliver poise in difficult situations.
"It's definitely a confidence boost knowing we've taken the program to places it hasn't been many times before," Swords said on BTN. "Being able to have so many returners and come into a preseason where we know the drills, we know what coach expects from us, we know what she wants, we can go into her office and ask her about anything. It just feels like we're so much further along than we were at this time last year."
The Wolverines retained all but one starter from the 2025-26 campaign, with former guard Brooke Quarles Daniels' surprise graduate fifth-year eligibility taking her to No. 1 South Carolina . Retaining those minutes will be huge for Michigan as many top programs in the country lost many key contributors due to injury or the transfer portal.
The chemistry and collective experiences give the Wolverines plenty to draw on from their past success, while still incorporating the new players who will impact Michigan's 2026-27 identity. Incoming transfer guard Dallas Loughridge and transfer forward Courtney Ogden are poised to make major impacts this season, particularly with Holloway and senior guard Macy Brown out indefinitely with injuries – Holloway with a left lower leg injury and Brown recovering from a March ACL tear.
Barnes Arico shared at Big Ten Media day that they're both progressing with rehab, albeit with undefined return timelines.
It's a balance of stringing together successful seasons while also not basking in past glory. Michigan retained a majority of its roster, aligning with head coach Kim Barnes Arico's player development focus despite the transfer portal era. They still start the season 0-0.
"I think our program does a really good job at taking it day by day and not thinking about last year's performance," Olson said. "We still need to win games to make it back there this year and push past to make it to the Final Four. We still need to compete every day and win games in a league that anyone can win any given day."
The Big Ten is projected to be arguably the toughest conference in the nation, with three teams ranked in the top 10 and nine in the top 25 – and three more receiving votes. Michigan's gauntlet of a schedule includes the 17 other conference teams and a home-and-home with Michigan State, along with high-profile nonconference games against the second-ranked Huskies and No. 21 Oklahoma.
While it's a tall task to finish with the trophy, this season's Wolverines aren't shying away from it one bit.
