Following a 2-0 week for the Wolverines, and Arizona losing its first two games of the season, the Michigan men’s basketball team is officially the No.1 team in the country in the AP Poll.
This is the first time the Wolverines were voted No. 1 in the country since the week of Jan. 28, 2013. They received 60 of the 61 first-place votes, with No. 2 Houston receiving the other. Arizona fell all the way down to No. 4.
Michigan is also officially the top
team on KenPom, the NET rankings, and Evan Miya’s and Bart Torvik’s ratings.
The Wolverines avoided an upset bid last Wednesday night at Northwestern, coming back from a 16-point deficit to beat the Wildcats by 12 in Evanston. Dusty May and company also handled business in a Valentine’s Day matinee in Ann Arbor on Saturday against UCLA, beating the Bruins in convincing fashion, 86-56.
This week will be one of the toughest of the season for the Wolverines, as they head to West Lafayette to take on No. 7 Purdue on Tuesday (6:30 p.m., Peacock) before traveling to Washington D.C. for a neutral site game in The Edward Jones Capital Showcase against No. 3 Duke on Saturday (6:30 p.m., ESPN).
The women’s team also continues its ascent
Meanwhile, the Michigan women’s squad also won both its games last week and moved up one spot to No. 6 in the AP Poll. Kim Barnes Arico and the Wolverines won at Northwestern on Thursday night before blowing out Michigan State in a rivalry rematch on Sunday afternoon.
Michigan has position itself nicely to earn a high seed in the NCAA Tournament this year. The Wolverines are also currently No. 6 in the NET rankings — one spot ahead of Vanderbilt, despite the Commodores being No. 5 in the AP Poll and having beat Michigan earlier this year — with all four of its losses being Quad 1 losses.
The Wolverines have just one game this week, as they will hit the road to take on the Iowa Hawkeyes on Sunday (noon, FOX).
