Where Michigan basketball ranks in updated AP poll

Michigan basketball was tabbed as the No. 6 team in the nation heading into the 2021-22 season and moved up to No. 4 in the Associated Press’ rankings after a 2-0 week to begin the year. But after two losses in the last week, the Maize and Blue have fell to No. 20.

Michigan dropped its first game of the year, 67-65 to unranked Seton Hall at Crisler Center last Tuesday, marking the program’s first non-conference home loss since losing an overtime game to Oregon in 2019. The Wolverines headed to Las Vegas for the Roman Main Event and bounced back to beat UNLV in the first contest, 74-61. In the championship game Sunday night, Michigan was routed by unranked Arizona, 80-62. Arizona now ranks No. 17, while Seton Hall is tabbed as the No. 21 team in the country.

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As head coach Juwan Howard said following the loss to the Wildcats, it’s “back to the lab” for his Wolverines, who lost three starters and their top bench player from a year ago and are clearly still trying to find their footing in the early going. The Athletic‘s Seth Davis, who dropped Michigan out of his top 25 this week, still believes the Maize and Blue will put together a good season.

“Was I too harsh on Michigan? I don’t think so,” Davis wrote. “As I wrote last week, there’s no need to be beholden to preseason rankings, especially when there’s so much roster turnover. The Wolverines may be one of the best 25 teams in the country, but they didn’t play like it last week, blowing an 11-point second-half lead at home to Seton Hall and then getting dominated by Arizona, 80-62, Sunday night in Las Vegas.

“Michigan obviously needs time to practice, so it’s good that the Wolverines only have one game between now and Dec. 1 when they play at North Carolina. I have no doubt that Juwan Howard will right the Good Ship Wolverine, but for the time being, this team is not rank-worthy.”

Michigan plays Tarleton State Wednesday evening at Crisler Center, before taking on the unranked Tar Heels in Chapel Hill Dec. 1.

The Wolverines are one of just three Big Ten teams to reside inside the top 25, joining No. 3 Purdue, No. 14 Illinois . Purdue is coming off a big weekend in which it took down North Carolina, 93-84, and Villanova, 80-74. Illinois fell to Marquette in Milwaukee, 67-66 in its lone game of the week.

Ohio State and Maryland were both inside the top 25 last week but are unranked this week. Ohio State dropped a game at Xavier, 71-65. Maryland represented the top 25 in the rankings last week, while Maryland suffered a home loss to George Mason, 71-66.

The Wolverines will take on Purdue, Illinois and Ohio State twice during the Big Ten season, and will have one game against Maryland.

While the voters are understandably bearish on Michigan at the current moment — especially compared to preseason expectations — the Wolverines still slot as the sixth-best team in America on Kenpom, an acclaimed analytics site. The Maize and Blue rank eighth and seventh in adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency, respectively. Michigan’s strength of schedule ranks 84th among college basketball’s 358 teams.

College Basketball AP Top 25

1. Gonzaga (55)
2. UCLA (5)
3. Purdue (1)
4. Kansas
5. Duke
6. Baylor
7. Villanova
8. Texas
9. Memphis
10. Alabama
11. Kentucky
12. Houston
13. Arkansas
14. Illinois
15. Tennessee
16. St. Bonaventure
17. Arizona
18. BYU
19. Auburn
20. Michigan
21. Seton Hall
22. UConn
23. Florida
24. USC
25. Xavier

Others receiving votes: Oregon 96, Virginia Tech 91, Ohio St. 89, North Carolina 75, Indiana 45, Michigan St. 44, Marquette 41, Colorado St. 30, Maryland 28, Texas Tech 26, Iowa 6, LSU 6, Florida St. 4, Mississippi St. 4, Drake 2, San Francisco 1, George Mason 1, Ohio 1, Loyola Chicago 1.