Michigan basketball stays at No. 20 in AP poll, gets leapfrogged by Michigan State
The Michigan basketball team didn't budge in this week's national rankings, but it did get jumped by a rival.
The Wolverines remained at No. 20 in latest edition of The Associated Press' Top 25 poll, but were passed in the rankings by Michigan State, which moved up two spots to No. 19.
In the USA Today/ESPN Top 25 coaches poll, Michigan fell one spot to No. 19, while Michigan State came in at No. 20.
The Wolverines went 2-0 last week with wins over Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Alabama A&M, running their current winning streak up to four straight.
Michigan State won its lone contest of the week, a 74-60 win over Bowling Green. After dropping their first two games of the season against North Carolina and Duke, the Spartans have now won nine straight -- including a road win over Gonzaga earlier this month.
Michigan and Michigan State are two of six Big Ten teams ranked in this week's AP poll.
The others are: No. 2 Ohio State (10-1), No. 13 Wisconsin (10-2), No. 17 Indiana (10-0) and No. 25 Illinois (10-1). Northwestern (10-1) was listed among the "others receiving votes" category.
The top five teams in the AP poll remained the same for a second week in a row, with Syracuse taking the top spot, followed by Ohio State, Kentucky, Louisville and North Carolina.
Baylor, Duke, Connecticut, Missouri and Marquette round out the top 10.
Michigan returns to the Crisler Arena floor Thursday against Bradley (6:30 p.m., BTN) for its final pre-Big Ten non-conference game.
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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Comments
unclemercy
Tue, Dec 20, 2011 : 3:55 p.m.
ive enjoyed attending all the home games this season. when the team is on the road i have been watching on my great big new tv. you should see how big it is.
Goofus
Tue, Dec 20, 2011 : 4:39 a.m.
It's a pity but there probably used to be a few potential MSU alums who might have bought or subscribed to the A2dotcom... not any more with the recent spate of negatively-tinged use of the word "leapfrog".
smokeblwr
Mon, Dec 19, 2011 : 7:53 p.m.
I could channel my inner Kirk Cousins and start whining about UM being jumped despite 2 wins compared to MSU's one but...whatever. With a real year-end tournament I'm not going to get worked up about rankings right now, but IT STILL MAKES ME MAD FOR PETESSAKE!!! GGGGAHHHH!!!!