The Stage Is Set For An AP Top 5 U-M Vs. OSU Showdown In Columbus Sunday
The Michigan Wolverines' basketball team stayed at No. 3 in today's Associated Press top 25, following the club's 67-59 triumph at No. 21 Wisconsin yesterday. The game was U-M's first since Jan. 22 following the school's two-week shutdown.
The reason Michigan didn't rise in the polls following its impressive win was due to the fact both Gonzaga and Baylor remained No. 1 and No. 2 in the country, respectively. The Bulldogs went 2-0 on the road this week after taking down BYU Monday and San Francisco Saturday, while Baylor is on a shutdown of its own and has seen its last four contests postponed (including tonight's that was originally scheduled at West Virginia).
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The Big Ten has five of its teams rated inside the nation's top 25, and three inside the top five. Ohio State and Illinois check in close behind U-M at No. 4 and No. 5, respectively, while Iowa slides in at No. 11 and Wisconsin at No. 21.
The Badgers did not move following yesterday's loss to the Wolverines (they also picked up a 61-48 win at Nebraska Wednesday night). Though Michigan will play Rutgers Thursday and Ohio State will play at Penn State the same day, the stakes are set for a massive top five showdown in Columbus Sunday afternoon.
The Maize and Blue will go head to head with the Buckeyes Sunday at 1:00 PM ET at Value City Arena with significant Big Ten title implications at stake. U-M sits atop the conference with a 9-1 record in league play, though the Buckeyes lurk near behind with an 11-4 Big Ten mark.
The five Big Ten teams who are ranked this week are two fewer than last week, with Purdue and Rutgers each having dropped out of the top 25. The Boilermakers had been ranked No. 24 and the Scarlet Knights No. 25.
This was due to Purdue losing a heartbreaker at Minnesota Thursday, and Rutgers dropping its game at Iowa Thursday night. The only change among this week's top five was the inclusion of Illinois at No. 5, who took Villanova's spot.
The Wildcats suffered one of the biggest falls of any team this week, dropping five spots to No. 10 nationally following their 86-70 loss at Creighton late Saturday afternoon.
The Maize and Blue, meanwhile, are the only ranked one-loss team in the nation. In fact, 17 of this week's top 25 teams have four or more losses, with Gonzaga (20-0), Baylor (17-0), Michigan (14-1), Houston (17-2), Virginia (15-3), Villanova (13-3), Florida State (11-3) and USC (17-3) being the exceptions.
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