What are two straight victories worth for the Michigan basketball team?
Apparently as many as six spots in the national rankings.
After scoring a 16-point road win at Nebraska on Wednedsay and a nine-point home victory over Illinois on Sunday, the Wolverines moved up five spots to No. 17 in The Associated Press' most recent Top 25 poll, released Monday, and six spots to No. 19 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll.
Michigan remains one of just two Big Ten teams (Ohio State being the other) to hold a national ranking for all 15 weeks this season.
The last time the Wolverines held a national ranking for 15 consecutive weeks was 1996-97.
Michigan guard Trey Burke drives to the basket during a 70-61 win over Illinois on Sunday that helped move the Wolverines up to No. 17 in the Associated Press top 25 poll.
Chris Asadian | AnnArbor.com
With five regular-season games remaining, Michigan (19-7, 9-4 Big Ten) is a half game out of first place in the league standings with an RPI of No. 14 nationally, per CollegeRPI.com.
As far as NCAA Tournament projections are concerned, ESPN.com "Bracketologist" Joe Lunardi pegged the Wolverines as a No. 4 seed in the West Regional. Lunardi currently projects Michigan to face Oral Roberts in a second-round game in Nashville, Tenn.
Lunardi has a total of eight Big Ten teams currently making the NCAA Tournament field.
As of Friday, CollegeRPI.com slotted the Wolverines as a No. 5 seed in the South Regional, opening against Long Beach State in Columbus, Ohio.
Michigan is one of five Big Ten teams to be ranked inside the AP's top 18.
Ohio State (21-4) leads the way at No. 6, with No. 7 Michigan State (20-5), No. 15 Wisconsin (19-6) and No. 18 Indiana (19-6) following.
Kentucky (25-1) and Syracuse (25-1) remain the top two teams in the country, with Missouri, Kansas and Duke rounding out the top five.
Former Michigan coach Steve Fisher has San Diego State ranked at No. 13 in the AP poll, while ex-Wolverine coach Tommy Amaker saw his Harvard team fall out of the rankings this week after losing to Princeton.
Nick Baumgardner covers Michigan basketball for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at 734-623-2514, by email at nickbaumgardner@annarbor.com and followed on Twitter @nickbaumgardner.
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