After Virginia won the title Monday night, the college basketball world shifted its focus to looking ahead to the next season. National college basketball experts released their way-too-early rankings for the 2019-2020 season.
Michigan is in the top-10 in all of these rankings and in the top-five of most of them. Here’s where the Wolverines are projected to start next season:
• The Athletic’s Seth Davis has Michigan at No. 2 in his rankings.
“The Wolverines snuck up on everyone this year after losing three starters from their NCAA runner-up team,” Davis writes. “That won’t be the case next season, provided Brazdeikis and Poole don’t turn pro. There are plenty of rumblings they are itching to give it a try, even though neither is projected to be a first-round pick. Matthews technically has another year of eligibility remaining, but the widespread expectation is that he is leaving. The school honored him on Senior Day. There are a number of really good players who didn’t get a ton of minutes this season, and John Beilein is masterly at player development. I’m also wondering if assistant coach Luke Yaklich, who has remade this program’s culture with his ability to teach defense, will be hired away as a head coach.”
Big Ten Teams In Rankings: Michigan State at No. 1, Maryland at No. 8, Ohio State at No. 24 and Purdue at No. 25.
• ESPN’s Jeff Borzello has Michigan at No. 7 in his rankings.
“On paper, John Beilein doesn't have a single senior,” he writes. “But the Wolverines will lose some players. Redshirt junior Charles Matthews went through Senior Day festivities in late February, and sophomore wing Jordan Poole could look to make the jump to the NBA. Freshman Ignas Brazdeikis could test the waters. Assuming there isn't a mass exodus, though, Beilein will still have a capable group, led by rising seniors Zavier Simpson and Jon Teske. This team will continue to be one of the best defensive teams in the country, too.”
Big Ten Teams In Rankings: Michigan State at No. 1, Maryland at No. 9 and Ohio State at No. 10
• SBNation.com’s Mike Rutherford has Michigan at No. 3 in his rankings.
“Charles Matthews seems committed to keeping his name in the NBA Draft this go-round, which means the stay or go decisions of Jordan Poole and Iggy Brazdeikis will be even more important than they were before,” he writes. “If both return, John Beilien will lose just one contributor from a team that was one of the eight best college basketball all season long in 2018-19. Even if both choose to bolt, there’s still more than enough talent returning to Ann Arbor for this to be a preseason top 10 team.”
Big Ten Teams In Rankings: Michigan State at No. 3, Maryland at No. 17, Purdue at No. 19 and Iowa at No. 23
• Jeremy Woo of Sports Illustrated has the Wolverines at No. 4 in his rankings.
“Michigan will lose Charles Matthews to the NBA, and Jordan Poole and Ignas Brazdeikis could potentially be out the door as well,” he writes. “Getting either of the latter two back would be huge, but this is a well-oiled program that will find ways to keep things rolling. At minimum, Michigan will bring back Zavier Simpson, Jon Teske and Isaiah Livers (who will be a breakout candidate in a starting role). Top recruit Jalen Wilson could also make an early impact. There could be some holes on the wing, but at this point, you just kind of assume John Beilein is going to figure things out.”
Big Ten Teams In Rankings: Michigan State at No. 1 and Maryland at No. 11
• Michigan slots in at No. 3 in USA Today’s rankings.
“If leading scorer Ignas Brazdeikis bypasses the NBA draft, then the Wolverines would return four of five starters from a Sweet 16 team,” Scott Gleeson writes. “The lone anticipated departure is Charles Matthews. Zavier Simpson, Jordan Poole, Isaiah Livers and Jon Teske are key pieces that should give coach John Beilein another team capable of winning Big Ten hardware.”
Big Ten Teams In Rankings: Michigan State at No. 1, Maryland at No. 14, Ohio State at No. 15, Iowa at No. 16 and Minnesota at No. 23
• Mike DeCourcy of Sporting News has Michigan at No. 4 in his rankings.
Big Ten Teams In Rankings: Michigan State at No. 2, Purdue at No. 9, Ohio State at No. 15, Iowa at No. 21 and Maryland at No. 24
• Gary Parrish of CBSSports.com has Michigan at No. 2 in his way-too-early rankings.
Big Ten Teams In Rankings: Michigan State at No. 1, Maryland at No. 9 and Iowa at No. 18
• Patrick Stevens of the Washington Post, has Michigan at No. 3.
“Another Big Ten team with most of its rotation back. Sure, the Wolverines have to replace Charles Matthews, but they’ll still have the fearless Zavier Simpson running the point and a junior class that includes Isaiah Livers and Jordan Poole. This projection assumes freshman Ignas Brazdeikis sticks around another year; move Michigan to the bottom half of the top 10 if he doesn’t.”
Big Ten Teams In Rankings: Michigan State at No. 1, Maryland at No. 16, Ohio State at No. 21 and Purdue at No. 23
Looking to the Past
ESPN's John Gasaway ranked the national champions and Michigan's 1989 team slotted in at No. 56 among the 81 champions.
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