After notching its 10th consecutive win in dominant fashion against UCLA on Saturday, Michigan ascended to No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll Monday for the first time since 2013.
The Wolverines had been No. 1 just once since 1992-93, when the Fab Five advanced all the way to the national championship game. Michigan received 60 of 61 first-place votes Monday, with the other going to No. 2 Houston.
This is the first new No. 1 since Dec. 8. Arizona, which held the top spot for more than two months, slipped three spots to No. 4 after back-to-back losses to No. 8 Kansas and No. 13 Texas Tech.
Houston and No. 3 Duke also moved ahead of the Wildcats. UConn rounded out the top five.
Michigan’s stay at No. 1 will be tested immediately by games at No. 7 Purdue on Tuesday and versus Duke in Washington, D.C., on Saturday. Those are two of seven games between ranked teams this week:
Monday: No. 2 Houston at No. 6 Iowa State (9 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Tuesday: No. 1 Michigan at No. 7 Purdue (6:30 p.m. ET, Peacock)
Wednesday: No. 20 Arkansas at No. 25 Alabama (7 p.m. ET, ESPN), No. 23 BYU at No. 4 Arizona (9 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Saturday: No. 4 Arizona at No. 2 Houston (3 p.m. ET, ABC), No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 3 Duke (6:30 p.m. ET, ESPN), No. 6 Iowa State at No. 23 BYU (10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
The Boilermakers were this week’s biggest riser, climbing six spots to No. 7 after wins over Nebraska and Iowa. No. 15 Michigan State and No. 16 North Carolina were the biggest fallers, each dropping five positions.
No. 24 Wisconsin and No. 25 Alabama were new additions to the poll this week, while Clemson and Kentucky fell out.
Here’s the full poll, along with the ballot of The Athletic’s C.J. Moore:
Rank
Team
Record
Prev
CJ’s vote
1
24-1
2
1
2
23-2
3
5
3
23-2
4
3
4
23-2
1
2
5
24-2
6
4
6
22-3
5
6
7
21-4
13
8
8
19-6
9
11
9
22-3
7
9
10
21-5
8
7
11
25-2
12
14
12
19-6
14
10
13
19-6
16
12
14
22-3
15
15
15
20-5
10
13
16
20-5
11
21
17
20-5
17
16
18
24-1
18
17
19
21-4
19
18
20
19-6
21
19
21
19-6
24
23
22
25-0
23
NR
23
19-6
22
24
24
18-7
NR
25
25
18-7
NR
20
NR
18-7
NR
22
Others receiving votes: Clemson 55, Utah State 45, Tennessee 36, Villanova 29, Kentucky 15, Miami (Fla.) 10, Saint Mary’s 3, VCU 1.
Why I kept Arizona at No. 2
I only dropped Arizona to No. 2 this week, even after the two straight losses, and my reasoning was the resumes between Duke, Arizona and UConn were close. If we’re talking who has the most excusable losses, it’s probably UConn (at home to Arizona and at St. John’s), slightly ahead of Arizona (at Kansas and home against Texas Tech) and slightly ahead of Duke (Texas Tech on a neutral court and at North Carolina). Arizona got my vote because it has two wins against my current top 10 (Florida at a neutral site and at UConn), while Duke has one (Florida at home) and UConn has two (Florida and Illinois, both in UConn-friendly New York).
Using Bart Torvik’s Teamsheets page, Duke (3) ranks slightly ahead of Arizona (3.3), which is far ahead of UConn (9.7) in the quality metrics. The resume-based averages are similar: Duke 2.3, UConn 3.3 and Arizona 3.7. The numbers say it’s between Arizona and Duke, and the numbers give a slight lean to Duke. But I think Arizona is the better team of the two. Add in the better losses and best wins, and it was Arizona by a hair on my ballot.
A week of opportunity for Houston
I’ve got Houston at No. 5 this week, and the reason why is quality wins. Houston is 2-2 against Quad 1A opponents — that’s top-15 opponents at home, top-25 at neutral sites and top-40 on the road — while the teams in front of Houston all have at least four Q1A wins. The good news for the Cougars is they have an opportunity coming with the next three at Iowa State, home against Arizona and at Kansas. If the Coogs go 2-0 this week, they’ll strengthen their case for No. 2 and maybe even No. 1 if Michigan loses to either Purdue or Duke this week.
Purdue on the rise
The preseason No. 1 could start its run for a No. 1 seed this week. I moved Purdue up to No. 8, and if the season ended today, Purdue would likely be a No. 2 seed. But there could eventually be a case for the top line. The Boilermakers have the fourth-most Q1 wins in the sport (eight) and had back-to-back quality road wins last week. It might take not losing again for Purdue to get to the top line, but it’s possible. The toughest games left are home games against Michigan and Michigan State. Purdue could potentially get another game against Michigan and likely a few other quality opponents in the Big Ten tournament. If Ohio State (currently 38th in the NET) can remain in the top 40 and Michigan State can remain in the top 15 (currently 15th), then Purdue has three Q1 opportunities left in the regular season.
