Four days before the team’s first exhibition game, the Michigan men’s basketball team has been ranked No. 7 in the Associated Press (AP) preseason poll.
Per Sports Reference data, this is the highest the Wolverines
have been ranked in the preseason since the 2021-22 season when the Wolverines started the season ranked No. 6.
Among Big Ten teams, Michigan has the second-highest ranking (Purdue is the preseason No. 1 team). Michigan is ranked ahead of UCLA (No. 12), Illinois (No. 17), Michigan State (No. 22) and Wisconsin (No. 24). Ohio State (23), Washington (7) and Indiana (1) also got votes in the inaugural poll of the 2025-26 season.
While the Wolverines lost their top three scorers from last season, they re-loaded in the transfer portal by adding Yaxel Lendeborg, Morez Johnson Jr., Elliot Cadeau and Aday Mara. Combine that with four key returners from the rotation (Nimari Burnett, Will Tschetter, Roddy Gayle Jr. and L.J. Cason), a guy who redshirted last season (Oscar Goodman) and a solid freshman class (guards Trey McKenney, Winters Grady, Malick Kordel and Ricky Liburd), and this roster looks real talented on paper. All in all, this ranking seems justified for the Wolverines.
In his 2026 preseason ratings, Ken Pomeroy is slightly lower on the Wolverines, placing them 11th behind Purdue (No. 3), Illinois (No. 6) and UCLA (No. 10) in the conference.
Michigan’s first exhibition game is against Cincinnati this Friday at 6 p.m. at Crisler Center. The Wolverines will make a quick trip to New York to face St. John’s in another exhibition on Oct. 25, before starting the season in Ann Arbor against Oakland on Nov. 3.
