Michigan football wild upset of Ohio State: How it happened, now what?
“Hail Yes!” podcast hosts react to Michigan’s incredible 13-10 win at No. 2 Ohio State and the aftermath at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Nov. 30, 2024.
For the first time in more than two years, Michigan basketball is ranked.
The Wolverines (6-1) came in at No. 23 in the latest USA TODAY Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll released Monday afternoon, marking the first time Michigan has been ranked since it was No. 21 in the Nov. 14, 2022 poll under former coach Juwan Howard.
Michigan State basketball (6-2) also jumped into the rankings at No. 25, after a 94-91 overtime win over North Carolina on Wednesday to conclude their Maui Invitational trip. The Spartans visit Minnesota on Wednesday night for their Big Ten opener.
U-M in 2022 lost the following week to Arizona State to fall out of the rankings, and went 22-38 over the final 60 games of Howard’s tenure.
Michigan new head coach Dusty May acknowledges it’s a wonderful first step, but means little right now.
“When I see it, I’m happy, because it helps our fanbase, helps in recruiting, hopefully helps our players as long as we take it the right way,” May said Monday morning in Ann Arbor shortly before the rankings came out. “But also, knowing it can be gone. You can be ranked one week, then unranked the next week. So it doesn’t really matter in December and January, but it does matter because it shows you’re playing well and you’re positioning yourself to where you want to be at the end of the year.
“Me personally, I don’t look at it — it’s distracting information for me. But for our fans, our students and everyone else, it’s awesome.”
Michigan picked up its first ranked win of the year over Xavier to claim the Fort Myers Tip-Off on Wednesday, and has a chance at its first head-to-head ranked showdown when it goes to No. 11 Wisconsin (8-0) to begin league play on Tuesday night.
U-M, which has won five in a row for the first time since the 2021-22 season, just missed out on getting ranked in the AP Top 25; the Wolverines are four spots out of the rankings having received 95 points. (MSU was the last team out with 108 points.)
While May tries to preach to his team to take everything one day at a time, he’d be lying to himself and his group if there isn’t a little bit of added incentive now that this is not only his team’s Big Ten debut, but a ranked matchup.
“One of our players said that — ‘I had no idea they were ranked this high,'” May said of Wisconsin. “So, absolutely, gives you a little bit bigger of a target, little bit bigger incentive. It’s part of the game … but yeah, especially with Wisconsin. I don’t think anyone saw this coming, how well they’re playing, this early.”
