Men’s CBK AP Top 25: Michigan Claims No. 1 For 1st Time in Over 13 Years

Michigan is No. 1 in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll for the first time in 13 years, ending Arizona’s nine-week reign. The Wolverines (24-1) claimed 60 of 61 first-place votes in Monday’s poll to climb one spot and supplant the Wildcats, who were unbeaten entering last week before falling at Kansas and at home to Texas Tech. “Not much,” coach Dusty May said when asked by the AP after Saturday’s rout of UCLA about the significance of potentially topping the poll. “It means we haven’t drank our own Kool-Aid. We’ve put ourselves in a position to be playing the types of games in mid-February that we want to be in, but we’ve got to continue to improve.” Michigan had been ranked No. 2 behind Arizona for six of Arizona’s nine weeks at the top but was No. 1 in analytics rankings by KenPom, Evan Miyakawa and Bart Torvik last week. Now the Wolverines have their first AP No. 1 ranking since January 2013. Houston and Duke each moved up one spot to sit behind Michigan, with the second-ranked Cougars claiming the remaining first-place vote. The Wolverines and Blue Devils are set to meet this weekend in a marquee nonconference matchup in the nation’s capital. [Casey Jacobsen’s Men’s College Basketball Rankings: Purdue, Texas Tech Make Massive Jumps] Arizona dropped three spots to No. 4. UConn was next at No. 5, followed by Iowa State, Purdue, Kansas, Nebraska and Illinois to round out the top 10. Wisconsin went from receiving no votes in last week’s poll to No. 24 after back-to-back wins against top-10 opponents Illinois and Michigan State last week. Wisconsin became the first team with three top-10 wins this season, and are now tied for fifth in the Big Ten with No. 10 Michigan State. Alabama was the other new addition at No. 25. Clemson (No. 20) and Kentucky (No. 25) fell out of last week’s poll. Clemson still received 55 votes, but No. 25 Alabama had 104. Utah State (45), Tennessee (36), Villanova (29), Kentucky (15), Miami (10), Saint Mary’s (3) and VCU (1) also received votes this week. Here is the full top 25: 25. Alabama, 18-7, SEC24. Wisconsin, 18-7, Big Ten23. BYU, 19-6, Big 1222. Miami (OH), 25-0, MAC21. Louisville, 19-6, ACC20. Arkansas, 19-6, SEC19. Vanderbilt, 21-4, SEC18. Saint Louis, 24-1, A-1017. St. John’s, 20-5, Big East16. North Carolina, 20-5, ACC15. Michigan State, 20-5, Big Ten14. Virginia, 22-3, ACC13. Texas Tech, 19-6, Big 1212. Florida, 19-6, SEC11. Gonzaga, 25-2, WCC10. Illinois, 21-5, Big Ten9. Nebraska, 22-3, Big Ten8. Kansas, 19-6, Big 127. Purdue, 21-4, Big Ten6. Iowa State, 22-3, Big 125. UConn, 24-2, Big East4. Arizona, 23-2, Big 123. Duke, 23-2, ACC2. Houston, 23-2, Big 121. Michigan, 24-1, Big Ten Conference breakdown The Big Ten and Big 12 lead with six teams each in the top 25, followed by the ACC and SEC with four teams a piece. The Big East has two representatives, while the West Coast Conference, Atlantic 10 and MAC have one team each. The Associated Press contributed to this report.