Michigan basketball team finishes regular season ranked No. 13 in AP poll
For the first time since the Fab Five era, the Michigan basketball program held a wire-to-wire regular-season national ranking.
After scoring an overtime win against Minnesota on Friday and falling to Ohio State on Saturday in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament, the Wolverines finished the regular season ranked No. 13 in The Associated Press' Top 25 poll.
Michigan fell three spots in the AP poll after the OSU loss. The Wolverines finished No. 14 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll.
Michigan (24-9) will open NCAA Tournament play on Friday (7:20 p.m., TNT) as a No. 4 seed, playing No. 13 Ohio in Nashville, Tenn.
The last time the Wolverines stayed inside the national rankings for an entire regular season was 1993-94, when four remaining players from the famed Fab Five -- (Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson) -- led the Wolverines to an Elite Eight appearance. Michigan finished that season 24-8 overall, and was No. 11 nationally when the regular season ended.
Michigan State (27-7), who earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, finished the regular season ranked No. 5 in the AP poll, leading all Big Ten members. Ohio State (27-7) was No. 7, Wisconsin (24-9) was No. 14 and Indiana (25-8) was No. 16.
Kentucky remained the country's top-ranked squad, followed by Syracuse, Missouri and North Carolina. The Tigers (30-4) were the only school ranked inside the top four not to receive a top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Former Michigan coach Steve Fisher led San Diego State (26-7) to a No. 22 national ranking this week, and the Aztecs will open tournament play as a No. 6 seed in the Midwest Regional, playing North Carolina State in the second round.
Ex-Wolverine boss Tommy Amaker's Harvard squad was listed among the others receiving votes. The Crimson will open tournament play as a No. 12 seed in the East Regional, facing off against Wisconsin.
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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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