Michigan Retains Position In Latest AP Poll

After another blemish-free week, the Michigan men’s basketball team holds steady in the latest AP Poll Top 25 rankings.

The Wolverines stick at the No. 2 spot behind only No. 1 Arizona which remains undefeated. Outside of the top two, there was quite a lot of movement at the top of the rankings, as several top-ranked teams picked up losses. 

UConn fell at the hands of St. John’s dropping the Huskies down from No. 3 to No. 6. Illinois lost to Michigan State, moving the Illini down to No. 8 from No. 5. Michigan State itself lost to Minnesota, counteracting its big win and sticking at No. 10. Duke also picked up a loss, falling to North Carolina, but the Blue Devils stayed at No. 4.

With Duke and UConn picking up extra losses, there is now a clear separation between the top two teams and the rest of the field. Michigan and Arizona and the clear top teams in the country, with the rankings becoming muddy from No. 3 onward.

The Wolverines didn’t pick up any first place votes this week, as their two wins weren’t impressive enough to sway the voters. They dismantled Penn State 110-69 on Thursday, then took down Ohio State Sunday on the road by a score 82-61. They looked very solid in both games, but the expectation was that they would have no problems going 2-0.

Here are the complete AP Poll rankings from Week 14:

Other teams receiving votes: Alabama, Iowa, NC State, Tennessee, Villanova, Utah State, Georgia, Santa Clara, Auburn, St. Mary’s.

Michigan has a ridiculous end of the year schedule, but it has to get there first. In the final three weeks of the season, the Wolverines will play No. 13 Purdue, No. 4 Duke, No. 8 Illinois, and No. 10 Michigan State.

Before any of that happens, however, they have to get through Northwestern and UCLA. On paper, neither team should give Michigan any trouble, but basketball isn’t played on paper. If the Wolverines are too concerned about the daunting matchups in the future, they could fall victim to the fated ‘trap game.’ 

There’s been nothing to suggest that Michigan will give anything less than 100% on any given night, but as the season reaches its crux and fatigue sets in, stranger things have happened on a basketball court.

If the Wolverines do drop one of these games, it doesn’t spell the end of the season — in fact, it might not change anything at all. But with the top of the rankings as clogged and muddied as they are, a bad loss could have a negative impact on potential March Madness seeding.

The name of the game remains the same: Win basketball games.