College basketball rankings: Late run keeps Michigan on top ahead of battle with surging UCLA
Northwestern provided a stiffer challenge than expected, but the No. 1 Wolverines met the moment with a 45-17 run down the stretch
By
Gary Parrish
•
1 min read
After Arizona lost at Kansas on Monday, the only thing standing between Michigan and a return to the No. 1 spot in next week's AP Top 25 was wins over unranked Northwestern on Wednesday and unranked UCLA on Saturday.
One down. One to go. But if you watched the game at Northwestern, you know it was more difficult than oddsmakers anticipated.
Final score: Michigan 87, Northwestern 75.
But that 12-point margin doesn't properly illustrate what happened at Welsh-Ryan Arena in a game in which Michigan closed as a 15.5-point favorite. Yes, it was another double-digit victory for the 23-1 Wolverines -- but they were actually down 58-42 with 14:04 remaining. From that point, Michigan outscored Northwestern 45-17 and turned a 16-point deficit into a 12-point road-win that didn't feel much like a road game given how many Michigan fans made the trip to Northwestern's campus.
"When we took our lead, they just erupted," Michigan coach Dusty May said. "I told our guys, 'This is a home game.'"
So now the Wolverines are on to UCLA -- and two things can be true at the same time:
- The Bruins, No. 13 in the preseason AP poll, are the highest-ranked preseason team that's no longer in the top 25 -- point being they've been disappointing.
- But they've been better lately.
UCLA will enter this weekend's matchup with the Bruins 17-7 and outside of the top 35 of the NET. That's not great. But it's definitely better than where they were, because where they were, back in early December, was as low as 78th in the NET.
Now they're 39th.
That's the result of UCLA going 5-1 in its past six games with the highlight being a Q1 win over Purdue. Things are good. But no team in the sport has a tougher three-game stretch on tap than the Bruins.
Check this out:
- Saturday: at Michigan (on CBS)
- Tuesday: at Michigan State (on Peacock)
- Feb. 21: Illinois at home (on Fox)
Anyway. ...
Michigan remains No. 1 in Thursday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings. The Wolverines are also No. 1 in the NET, at KenPom.com, BartTorvik.com and EvanMiya.com.
Top 25 And 1 rankings
Biggest Movers
1
Saint Louis
3
Clemson
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | L.J. Cason finished with 18 points and four steals in Wednesday's 87-75 win at Northwestern. The Wolverines' next game is Saturday against UCLA. | -- | 23-1 |
| 2 |  | Koa Peat missed nine of the 11 shots he attempted in Monday's 82-78 loss at Kansas. The Wildcats' next game is Saturday against Texas Tech. | -- | 23-1 |
| 3 |  | Solo Ball finished with 24 points and one rebound in Wednesday's 80-70 win at Butler. The Huskies' next game is Saturday against Georgetown. | -- | 23-2 |
| 4 |  | Isaiah Evans finished with 21 points and two rebounds in Tuesday's 70-54 win at Pitt. The Blue Devils' next game is Saturday against Clemson. | -- | 22-2 |
| 5 |  | Emanuel Sharp finished with 27 points and three rebounds in Tuesday's 66-52 win at Utah. The Cougars' next game is Saturday against Kansas State. | -- | 22-2 |
| 6 |  | Milan Momcilovic missed eight of the 12 shots he attempted in Tuesday's 62-55 loss at TCU. The Cyclones' next game is Saturday against Kansas. | -- | 21-3 |
| 7 |  | Flory Bidunga finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds in Monday's 82-78 win over Arizona. The Jayhawks' next game is Saturday at Iowa State. | -- | 19-5 |
| 8 |  | Fletcher Loyer finished with 18 points and three rebounds in Tuesday's 80-77 overtime win at Nebraska. The Boilermakers' next game is Saturday at Iowa. | -- | 20-4 |
| 9 |  | Pryce Sandfort missed eight of the 12 shots he attempted in Tuesday's 80-77 loss to Purdue. The Cornhuskers' next game is Saturday against Northwestern. | -- | 21-3 |
| 10 |  | Zvonimir Ivisic missed both of the 3-pointers he attempted in Tuesday's 92-90 loss to Wisconsin. The Illini's next game is Sunday against Indiana. | -- | 20-5 |
| 11 |  | Graham Ike finished with 20 points and seven rebounds in Tuesday's 83-53 win over Washington. The Zags' next game is Saturday at Santa Clara. | -- | 24-2 |
| 12 |  | Jeremy Fears Jr. finished with 26 points and 15 assists in Saturday's 85-82 overtime win over Illinois. The Spartans' next game is Friday at Wisconsin. | -- | 20-4 |
| 13 |  | Xaivian Lee finished with 18 points and seven assists in Wednesday's 86-66 win at Georgia. The Gators' next game is Saturday against Kentucky. | -- | 18-6 |
| 14 |  | Jacari White finished with 19 points and four rebounds in Tuesday's 61-58 win at Florida State. The Cavaliers' next game is Saturday against Ohio State. | -- | 21-3 |
| 15 |  | Tyler Tanner finished with 25 points and six assists in Tuesday's 84-76 win at Auburn. The Commodores' next game is Saturday against Texas A&M. | -- | 20-4 |
| 16 |  | Zuby Ejiofor finished with 25 points and seven rebounds in Monday's 87-82 overtime win over Xavier. The Red Storm's next game is Saturday at Providence. | -- | 19-5 |
| 17 |  | JT Toppin finished with 16 points and 18 rebounds in Wednesday's 78-44 win over Colorado. The Red Raiders' next game is Saturday at Arizona. | -- | 18-6 |
| 18 |  | Darius Acuff Jr. finished with 28 points and five assists in Tuesday's 91-62 win at LSU. The Razorbacks' next game is Saturday against Auburn. | -- | 18-6 |
| 19 |  | Ishan Sharma finished with 15 points and two rebounds in Saturday's 82-58 win over La Salle. The Billikens' next game is Friday at Loyola Chicago. | 1 | 23-1 |
| 20 |  | Derek Dixon missed eight of the nine shots he attempted in Tuesday's 75-66 loss at Miami. The Tar Heels' next game is Saturday against Pitt. | 1 | 19-5 |
| 21 |  | Mikel Brown Jr. finished with 45 points and nine rebounds in Monday's 118-77 win over NC State. The Cardinals' next game is Saturday against Baylor. | 1 | 18-6 |
| 22 |  | Jestin Porter missed seven of the eight shots he attempted in Wednesday's 76-66 loss to Virginia Tech. The Tigers' next game is Saturday at Duke. | 3 | 20-5 |
| 23 |  | Eian Elmer finished with 18 points and nine rebounds in Saturday's 90-74 win at Marshall. The RedHawks' next game is Friday against Ohio. | -- | 24-0 |
| 24 |  | AJ Dybantsa finished with 36 points and seven assists in Tuesday's 99-94 win at Baylor. The Cougars' next game is Saturday against Colorado. | -- | 18-6 |
| 25 |  | Latrell Wrightsell finished with 21 points and three assists in Wednesday's 93-74 win at Ole Miss. The Crimson Tide's next game is Saturday against South Carolina. | -- | 17-7 |
| 26 |  | Otega Oweh finished with 21 points and four rebounds in Saturday's 74-71 win over Tennessee. The Wildcats' next game is Saturday at Florida. | -- | 17-7 |
