After yet another 2-0 week that saw the Michigan Wolverines' basketball team take down Toledo and Penn State, the Maize and Blue have finally entered the Associated Press Poll's top 25 rankings.
U-M sits at No. 25 in today's edition, rising one spot from the No. 26 ranking it previously held. The Wolverines were jumped by San Diego State and Louisville in last week's release (despite less impressive weeks from the Aztecs and Cardinals), and were leapfrogged by an ACC squad once again this time around, in Clemson.
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The Tigers skyrocketed all the way from No. 36 to No. 24, thanks to a 2-0 week that saw them take down Maryland, 67-51, and Alabama, 64-56. Michigan is now one of seven ranked Big Ten squads, with the conference making up 28 percent of the current AP top 25.
Iowa is the highest rated league member at No. 3 nationally, followed by Michigan State at No. 4, Wisconsin at No. 12, Illinois at No. 13, Rutgers at No. 19 and Ohio State at No. 20.
The AP top five remained the same this week, with Gonzaga and Baylor staying at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, and Kansas remaining locked in at No. 5. It's also worth noting Duke is still ranked at No. 21, despite the Blue Devils' 83-68 home loss to Illinois last Tuesday night and their overall record of 2-2.
Duke's two wins on the year are over Coppin State and Bellarmine, and the Blue Devils and Fighting Illini are the only two two-loss ranked squads in the nation. Michigan's schedule, meanwhile, lightens up a bit moving forward, with a Christmas Day trip to Lincoln to face Nebraska standing as the Wolverines' next showdown.
That will be followed by a New Year's Eve trek to Maryland against a subpar Terrapins squad, before Northwestern comes to Ann Arbor Jan. 3.
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