AP Top 25: Michigan remain #3
How many top teams will Michigan need to beat in order to receive 1 first place vote?
Next up. #11 Iowa.
February 22nd, 2021 at 1:18 PM ^
#3 on every ballot.
February 22nd, 2021 at 1:19 PM ^
All of them apparently ...
February 22nd, 2021 at 1:19 PM ^
Gonzaga and Baylor have to lose for any changes in their positioning. While UM might have a better resume, in the end these tougher games put them in a better position later in the tournament. Beat Iowa, Beat Illinois, and beat the shit out of MSU twice.
February 22nd, 2021 at 2:03 PM ^
Gonzaga and Baylor have to lose for any changes in their positioning.
Agreed here. And while there is an argument to be made for UM having a tougher schedule so far than Baylor, there really isn't an argument against Gonzaga. They have demolished the good teams on their schedule (including Iowa), and have smoked the lesser competition in their conference. There is no argument against Gonzaga as long as they keep doing what they are doing.
February 22nd, 2021 at 3:15 PM ^
My only argument against Gonzaga and Baylor are their SOSs. GU's is 96 and BU's is 104, according to KenPom, whereas UM's is 20th (and will rise this week, surely).
Also, the B10 is top-ranked according to KenPom and the B12 is second (making Baylor's SOS kind of weird). The WCC, home of Gonzaga and such luminaries as Pacific, Pepperdine, Portland, San Diego, and San Francisco, is 9th. And I bet 90% of that 9th ranking is Gonzaga itself.
Anyway, I think GU and BU deserve to remain at 1 and 2 for now but there are arguments for Michigan hopping them.
February 22nd, 2021 at 4:38 PM ^
Yes. HOWEVER, if U-M wins out and Baylor loses one, Michigan leaps them.
Even if Baylor's loss is a 1-point double-overtime thriller against KU on the road at Allen, and even if they also blow out WVU by 40. And even if Michigan's remaining wins are all white-knuckle squeakers, and even if Foster Loyer drops 25 on us at Crisler.
Only a Baylor player's mom would disagree.
February 22nd, 2021 at 1:19 PM ^
We should get a few 1st place votes, we're in 1st place with only one loss with an integral player out in that game.
In by far the best conference.
Just keep winning!
February 22nd, 2021 at 1:20 PM ^
Gonzaga hasn't played a good team in a long time. Hope they get upset early come March
February 22nd, 2021 at 1:23 PM ^
You know that’s the Gonzaga way!
February 22nd, 2021 at 1:43 PM ^
Not really anymore. They have made it to at least the sweet sixteen for the past 5 tournaments. Except for 2019 when they lost in the elite eight as a 1 seed, they've played at or above their seeding every year since 2014
2014: #8, round of 32
2015: #2, elite eight
2016: #11, sweet 16
2017: #1, finals
2018: #4, sweet 16
February 22nd, 2021 at 1:22 PM ^
Unless Gonzaga or Baylor lose there won't be any movement, so not sure what you expected. Resume aside, the top 3 is set until one of them losses...
February 22nd, 2021 at 1:27 PM ^
I guess I expected ONE of these voters to throw a little love towards our Maize and Blue for going on the road against Wisconsin and Ohio State in the span of a week and walking out with wins. Those are some tough places to play against top tier talent.
Turns out, we didn't even get a vote for #2.
Oh well, as others have said, Just keep winning baby!!!!
February 22nd, 2021 at 1:30 PM ^
Oh well, as others have said, Just keep winning baby!!!!
Same thing is being said of Baylor and GU too...
...and since those teams haven't lost recently, not sure where this expectation of M moving up in the polls comes from.
February 22nd, 2021 at 1:52 PM ^
Baylor beat #5 Illinois, #7 Oklahoma, and #14 Texas by double digits. The closest games they've played all year are back-to-back 8 point wins against #18 TTU on the road and against #17 KU at home. They do close out the season against #10 WVU and at #17 KU (next is home vs ISU), so we'll see what happens, but they're a buzzsaw right now. Baylor drops one, Michigan wins out and they'll swap spots. But that's a discussion for another day.
Gonzaga's schedule overall is weaker, but their NC schedule was pretty tough and they only have 1 single-digit game - 5 pt win over #13 WVU. They beat the following by double digits:
#23 KU, #11 Iowa, #15 UVA. But given their overall dominance, don't expect them to lose votes unless they struggle against Santa Clara and LMU to close the season. I don't see that happening.
February 23rd, 2021 at 7:02 AM ^
Isn’t osu just a 3/4 seed team?
February 22nd, 2021 at 1:28 PM ^
Exactly.
If a voter changed their #1 to Michigan, then on some blog somewhere there would be people moaning about that.
A certain extent of these polls are regional (especially with the writers) so who cares -- if M wins out they have a #1 seed.
February 22nd, 2021 at 1:44 PM ^
Yes, as long as we’re a 1 seed it really doesn’t matter what the final ranking is. Still keeps the “ no one believes in us” narrative available for motivation.
I like our chances against anyone in the field. I’ve seen plenty of unbeatable super teams go down in my time watching CBB so I’m not sweating Baylor or the Zags.
February 22nd, 2021 at 3:18 PM ^
Still keeps the “no one believes in us” narrative available for motivation.
Really? The disrespekt card for being ranked #3 in the country and a presumptive #1 seed in the NCAA tournament? Seems like a stretch.
February 22nd, 2021 at 5:01 PM ^
Well, in fairness, even some people on this site (and maybe even its authors) regularly imply that Illinois and/or Iowa MIGHT be better than Michigan.
They seem to think that Garza, Cockburn, and Dosunmu are better than any players on M's roster, even if Garza's defense makes Austin Davis look like Anthony Davis.
They ardently refuse to give Wagner an AA crown in the pregame graphic or Dangerman stars to our amazing guards.
They express fears that M's backcourt can't defend any athletic PG taller than 6-feet, even when proven otherwise.
They worry about the "rivalry" games with MSU even though their only true PG is a certified weenie and their best player would not even be M's sixth man.
Even as a consensus No. 3, Michigan gets a lot of disrespect.
February 22nd, 2021 at 8:38 PM ^
I don’t think anyone is implying Iowa or Illinois is better than UM
February 22nd, 2021 at 1:25 PM ^
#1 in our hearts
February 22nd, 2021 at 1:26 PM ^
Nice. No surprise.
February 22nd, 2021 at 1:27 PM ^
Who cares what the media thinks. The important thing is that Michigan is #1 after the end of the NCAA Tournament.
February 22nd, 2021 at 1:29 PM ^
1 1st place vote in the coaches poll though!
February 22nd, 2021 at 3:09 PM ^
Anyone know which SID--er, coach--voted for us?
February 22nd, 2021 at 1:33 PM ^
Don't worry about Baylor and Gonzaga
They're talented teams, but Michigan frankly has a more impressive resume than Baylor even with our one loss. Plus, they're battling 71 straight years of history that says they won't make it to the final four
Gonzaga looks good, but they look good every year and that didn't stop Juwan from stuffing them in a trash can last year with a much less talented team than the one we have this year. Long way to go in the season, but this team can absolutely win it all
February 22nd, 2021 at 2:03 PM ^
Very true, but in Gonzaga's defense they've beaten some very good teams on their schedule this year. Whooped UVa by 20+, beat Iowa by 10, beat West Virginia by 5. All top-15 teams. That's not counting Kansas and Auburn that they've also beaten. I know neither are particularly good this year but Kansas is always stacked with NBA talent and Auburn was in the Final Four two years ago, so it says something anyway.
Michigan can absolutely win it all this year and can absolutely beat Gonzaga, but its not like Gonzaga has played no one but scrubs. They even had Baylor on the schedule before COVID had a say in cancelling it.
February 22nd, 2021 at 2:20 PM ^
Beating Auburn most definitely doesn’t say anything about Gonzaga other than that they beat a shitty team
February 22nd, 2021 at 2:22 PM ^
Will be interesting to see how we handle Iowa on Thurs. Will be a big test for Hunter. (Iowa is 5-3 away, we are unbeaten at home this year)
February 22nd, 2021 at 1:34 PM ^
We're not gonna go any higher than this till Baylor or Gonzaga lose. Nbd
February 22nd, 2021 at 1:37 PM ^
This is what happens when Oakland takes you to OT. /s
February 22nd, 2021 at 1:39 PM ^
From the article, "Gonzaga has won 26 consecutive games after blowing out San Diego 106-69 on Saturday and hasn't really been tested despite playing one of the nation's toughest schedules."
Who the hell even works at ESPN anymore? Certainly no one that knows anything about MBB.
February 22nd, 2021 at 3:50 PM ^
I read that and had the exact same response. It caused me to look up their SOS, which caused even more head scratching on my part. You gotta love a good narrative. The media nowadays.
February 22nd, 2021 at 1:43 PM ^
brb, going to go order a giant foam hand that says "We're #3!" so I can be sure I'm rooting properly from my couch.
February 22nd, 2021 at 1:58 PM ^
Until Baylor or Gonzaga loses I don't think anything changes. Being unbeaten is being unbeaten, and its tough to argue your way around that. Baylor plays in the Big XII so S.O.S isn't going to be difficult for them to convey, and then Gonzaga loaded up with a tough OOC schedule to prove itself. They may play nobody in-conference, but this year they've beaten Iowa, UVa, West Virginia, Kansas and Auburn. Hell, they would've even played Baylor had the game not gotten cancelled due to COVID. That's a great "prove-it" schedule, so they've earned the right to be #1 in my book.
Also, Michigan has a less than stellar loss on its resume. Minnesota isn't bad, but its not like losing a close fought battle to a top-5 team on the road or something like that. It was a bit of a butt-kicking. They've more than made up for it, but its still a blemish that neither Baylor nor Gonzaga have on their resume.
In any case, Michigan is right where it needs to be. Get a one seed and you ensure you don't have to see any of those guys until the Final Four.
February 22nd, 2021 at 2:14 PM ^
I'm not really that worried about AP votes. I'll be thrilled if we win the B1G regular season and hold on to a #1 tourney seed, even if that #3 ranking doesn't increase in the process.
February 22nd, 2021 at 2:18 PM ^
Baylor will lose Thursday to West Virginia
February 22nd, 2021 at 2:27 PM ^
Too bad that game is at Baylor. At Kansas on Feb. 27th might be the first loss for Baylor
February 22nd, 2021 at 2:30 PM ^
Michigan has the best resume in the country. I have never seen so many people just accept teams as being deserving of a top ranking like many have this year for Baylor or Gonzaga. It is time for strength of schedule to play a factor and move Michigan to the top of the rankings.
February 22nd, 2021 at 4:39 PM ^
Every advanced stats has Zags and Baylor comfortably ahead of the rest of the teams. Eye tests also confirmed it as well. Michigan is close but aren't quite up there along with them.
You can be the best team in the country in a bad conference and it would still hold true even if you stack resume together head to head. See Clemson Football winning it all two seasons ago where everyone bitched about their playoff rankings because ReSuMe! Until either team lose, you won't see Michigan rising up into top 2. Zags is an odds on favorite to finish the regular season undefeated. Baylor has a tough test in WVU but I still see them finishing the regular season undefeated.
February 22nd, 2021 at 2:37 PM ^
I like that OSU didn't drop after that game. To me, that cemented them at #4, I feel like it's rare that good close losses to a better aren't penalized by dropping a team.
February 22nd, 2021 at 3:53 PM ^
Wait until one of the dynamic duo craps its pants in the next couple weeks. I can see one of them scoring 12 in a loss and missing 60% or more of their shots. Its the type of fall off all players have after career games vs Michigan. Washington had a 4 game stretch where he barely surpassed 30 points for all 4. Yes I know he is a different player now. We will see but I think OSU effs up vs either Iowa or Illinois. Illinois would then take their 1 seed.
February 22nd, 2021 at 5:21 PM ^
I find it interesting that in basketball the 3 seed beats the 4 seed and they remain unchanged. In 2006 football season the 1 seed (OSU) beats the 2 seed(UM) and they drop out of the national championship picture. Shows how basketball has common sense and football doesn’t. Double standard or conspiracy theory? Haha
February 22nd, 2021 at 5:44 PM ^
LSU and Bama didnt like the idea of a national championship rematch. Just a couple years later they liked the idea.
February 22nd, 2021 at 5:44 PM ^
LSU and Bama didnt like the idea of a national championship rematch. Just a couple years later they liked the idea.
February 22nd, 2021 at 2:56 PM ^
The great thing about basketball is it doesn't matter. It's eventually decided on the court by virtually every team with a legitimate chance of winning (as opposed to, say, 4 teams chosen based on things).
February 22nd, 2021 at 11:19 PM ^
I get what you’re saying, and agree with not liking the 4 team playoff, but basketball isn’t perfect either...Every year teams get hot and take an auto-bid by winning their conference tourney and a more deserving team that doesn’t win their tourney gets left out...
February 22nd, 2021 at 2:58 PM ^
I'll take 3rd in the AP and a number #1 seed 24/7.
the AP had Gonzaga and Baylor as preseason 1 and 2, whereas Michigan was only 25.
Michigan isn't passing either of them unless one of them lose or Michigan goes undefeated while blasting Iowa or Illinois.
February 22nd, 2021 at 3:14 PM ^
It doesn't matter-in fact, there are psychological advantages with this position. Gonzaga doesn't play anyone and the Big 12 is criminally overrated. So #3 it is.
February 22nd, 2021 at 3:22 PM ^
OP, the link you provided shows Iowa as #9 not #11.