Positive movement for both in state schools in the latest college basketball AP poll. Michigan State creeps a little bit closer to the top, moving up one spot from number five to number four. Michigan basketball had slightly more movement this week going from number 24 to 20.
What may come as a surprise to some, 20th is the highest the Wolverines have climbed in the AP poll since December of 2014.
Michigan up to 20th in the AP Poll, its highest AP ranking since Dec. 1, 2014: https://t.co/s5L0seyqUY
— Zach Shaw (@_ZachShaw) February 5, 2018
The December first, 2014 AP poll had the Wolverines ranked at number 17 in the country. However, that was incredibly short lived as Michigan basketball free fell into one of their most embarrassing weeks in recent memory. It was that week that the ranked Michigan team would lose to the New Jersey Institute of Technology(NJIT), only to follow up that embarrassment with a home loss to Eastern Michigan days after.
With a slate of Big Ten games on the horizon, this current Michigan basketball team will avoid the likes of NJIT and Eastern Michigan. John Beilein will have to get his team focused on three big ten teams that appear to be in the midst of a down year in Northwestern, Wisconsin, and then Iowa. Avoiding another loss like the Nebraska one in January will be the key to these next coming games, as they try not to look too far forward to the impending matchup with 14th ranked Ohio State.
The fourth-ranked Michigan State Spartans also have a major game coming right around the corner. Michigan State is set to play the third-ranked Purdue Boilermakers in a top-five clash this Saturday. Purdue is one of the hottest teams in the country, currently riding a 19 game win streak.
Michigan State is currently third in the Big-Ten rankings behind Purdue and Ohio State, so a win against Purdue would certainly help get them closer to a Big Ten title. However, Michigan State has bigger goals than just a Big Ten championship this year, as they are still the odds-on favorite to win the big dance this year.
The Big Ten currently owns only four spots in the AP top 25 with Purdue at three, Michigan State at 4, Ohio State at 14, and Michigan at 20.
The rest of the AP top 25 can be seen here.