For the 11th straight week, the University of Michigan men’s and women’s basketball teams are ranked in the top 10 of the AP Poll after each team beat Michigan State at the Breslin Center last week. The men’s team has now returned to the number 2 spot, while the women’s team moved up one place to number 8.
The men’s team had as good a week as you can have in college basketball, handing No. 5 Nebraska its first loss of the season before traveling to East Lansing and beating Tom Izzo’s No. 7 Spartans. Two top-10 wins against teams that have a real shot at winning the Big Ten title, and the second win came on just two days’ rest, is impressive.
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Michigan also earned its No. 1 ranking in KenPom and is also ranked No. 3 in the NET with an 8-0 record in Quad 1 games. Other analysis sites, EvanMiya.com and Bart Torvik, also rate Michigan as the No. 1 team in the country. Looking at all the projections across the country on Bracket Matrix, Michigan is expected to be the No. 1 seed come tournament time.
Compared to last week, on paper, this week ought It will be much easier for the Wolverines. Surprises are always possible, but Michigan plays two Big Ten teams in the next seven days that it has already beaten by double digits. Michigan hosts Penn State (Thursday, February 5, 6:30 pm on FS1) before heading to Columbus to take on the Buckeyes (Sunday, February 8, 1 pm on CBS) in a game that Ohio State practically has to win to make the tournament.
The women’s team also had two wins last week, beating Indiana in Bloomington before beating the Spartans in overtime in East Lansing. That MSU game was especially exciting, with sophomore point guard Mila Holloway scoring a career-high 26 points and the Wolverines playing excellent defense down the stretch. That win against MSU, which was ranked No. 13 at the time and is now No. 12, is Michigan’s third ranked win of the season and the Big Ten’s eighth consecutive victory.
Ranked sixth in net, barring a big losing streak, the Wolverines are in a good spot to be in the top four in the NCAA Tournament, meaning we would have a Round of 64 game and potentially a Round of 32 game in Ann Arbor.
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The ladies return home for two games this week, when Michigan takes on Nebraska on Wednesday, February 4 (7 pm on B1G+), a potential trap game before No. 2 UCLA comes to town on Super Bowl Sunday (February 8, 3 pm on FOX). A win against UCLA would almost certainly put Michigan in the top five for the first time this season.