Much like most of corporate America, Associated Press voters got a holiday break. No poll was released last week, so after two weeks, both the men’s and women’s basketball teams at the University of Michigan remain in the top-10, as has been the case for the majority of the 2025-26 season.
The men’s team stood pat at No. 2 in the poll, behind Arizona, which has led the country in the last four polls dating back to Dec. 8. Michigan remains undefeated, beating McNeese last Monday and USC last Friday
by a combined margin of 208-137. In other words, Michigan throttled two teams projected to make the tournament and still didn’t move up in the poll.
Granted, I get the argument for Arizona keeping the top spot, at least in theory. Michigan’s 40-point win over Gonzaga may be the most impressive of the season by any team, but Arizona’s three wins over Florida, UConn and Alabama make its resume pretty impressive.
That said, Michigan is crushing opponents at a historic pace. Per Jeff Borzello and ESPN research, Michigan is the first team in AP Poll history to win three straight games against ranked opponents by at least 30 points. The Wolverines are on pace to be the second-best team on KenPom ever. Per Evan Miyakawa, they lead the nation in 10-0 runs by a wide margin and are covering the spread by an average of more than 20 points.
By the way, the 13-0 Wolverines are still ranked No. 1 in the NET, in KenPom, in Bart Torvik’s rankings, in the USA Today’s Coaches Poll and on EvanMiya.com. But that this point, I don’t think the AP voters will be swayed until the Wildcats lose on a week where the Wolverines stay undefeated.
The men have two Big Ten games this week — on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Penn State (ranked No. 121 in KenPom) and Saturday at 1 p.m. at home vs Wisconsin (No. 45 on KenPom).
As for the women’s team, they remain in the top-10, but fell three spots to No. 9 following a 1-1 West Coast road trip. The Wolverines beat Oregon in double overtime and fell at Washington on New Year’s Day. That Huskies team earned 17 votes in the latest poll, so losing to them on the road won’t be terrible for Michigan’s NCAA Tournament resume.
The women plays three games in the calendar week, all against Big Ten opponents:
-Monday, Jan. 5 vs Minnesota (6:30 p.m. on Big Ten Network)
-Thursday, Jan. 8, at Penn State (6 p.m. on B1G+)
-Sunday, Jan. 11 vs Wisconsin (2 p.m. on B1G+)
Wisconsin is the only one of those teams with a winning record in conference play. Playing three games against anyone in a calendar week is a tall task, but the Wolverines could get back on track by going 3-0 this week.
