The Michigan Wolverines dropped more than a few spots in the AP Poll after losses to Maryland and Michigan State this past week:
The Michigan Wolverines fell five spots in the AP Poll to No. 22, the last poll released of the 2024-25 regular season. They also finished 21st in USA Today’s coaches poll.
From a Big Ten standpoint, this puts the Wolverines behind Michigan State (No. 7), Maryland (No. 11), Wisconsin (No. 18) and Purdue (No. 20). Michigan is just ahead of Oregon (No. 23) and Illinois (No. 24).
This drop in the rankings comes after two losses this past week to Maryland and Michigan State , with the latter being in blowout fashion with some court-kissing controversy to boot.
It’s no secret Michigan is struggling right now. The Wolverines are in the midst of a three-game losing streak and lack a win by more than four points since mid-January. A few days off — Michigan won’t play in the Big Ten Tournament until Friday — is a welcome sight for a team that played five games in 13 days to close out the regular season.
On Bracket Matrix , a site that aggregates bracket projections across the country, the Wolverines are projected as a 5-seed, along with Clemson, Oregon, and St. Mary’s.
Michigan has at least one chance to improve on its tournament résumé this week with the Big Ten Tournament kicking off with a much worse logo . The Wolverines, who currently have the seventh-best odds to win it, are a 3-seed and will face either 6-seed Purdue (Michigan is 1-1 against the Boilermakers this season), 11-seed Rutgers (2-0) or 14-seed USC (1-0).
Michigan will play the last game of the night on Friday, which is projected to tip-off around 9 p.m., but it will likely be later given the one-venue tournament format. Future games in the tournament depend on how Michigan does on Friday.
A quick women’s update
While the men’s team struggled last week, Michigan’s women’s basketball has been cruising as of late. The Wolverines slightly improved their tournament resume after picking up wins over Washington and Maryland in the Big Ten Tournament last week before a respectable loss to the top-seeded USC in the semifinals.
Ahead of Selection Sunday, the Wolverines (22-10, 11-7) finished tied for fifth in the Big Ten and earned 31 votes, the second-most among unranked teams in the AP Poll.
Like the men’s team, the women’s team is fully in the tournament field. The Wolverines are projected to be a 7-seed by ESPN’s Charlie Creme , a 6-seed by Megan Gauer with Her Hoops Stats, and an 8-seed by Connor Groel with CBS Sports (published before the Washington and Maryland wins).