The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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men's basketball Michigan Climbs Back In National Polls Michigan clawed its way back up to No. 2 in the nation in the Jan. 21 Associated Press poll, while moving to No. 3 in the USA Today coaches' poll. The Wolverines dropped from No. 2 nationally to No. 5 after absorbing their first loss of the season, a disappointing setback at Ohio State. But when they rebounded with a solid 83-75 road victory at Minnesota, voters took notice. In the AP poll, the Wolverines stood No. 2 behind top-rated Duke, garnering 1,539 poll points to Duke's 1,578. The 16-1 Blue Devils drew 39 first-place votes, with 17-1 Michigan collecting 11. Kansas, Syracuse and Louisville rounded out the top five. In the coaches' poll, Duke and 16-1 Kansas took the top two spots, the Blue Devils securing 20 first-place votes and the Jayhawks eight. Michigan was third with one first-place vote and 712 points, behind Duke's 755 and Kansas' 732. Syracuse and Louisville finished off the coaches' top five. Michigan head coach John Beilein has repeatedly expressed ambivalence toward the polls, especially early ones. The longer his team hangs around in the top five, though, the clearer it becomes that his team possesses the sort of staying power to make it a major factor in the Big Ten race and beyond. Before the season, Beilein commented: "John Beilein is always going to have a chip on his shoulder. Never worry about that." He'll no doubt be looking to keep one on his team's shoulder, throughout Head coach John Beilein's Wolverines face a daunting schedule, with four Big Ten road games between Jan. 27 and Feb. 12 out of six contests overall in that time period. photo by lon horwedel a six-week stretch that includes games at Illinois, at Indiana, at Wisconsin and at Michigan State. Wolverines Riding High In Standings, Statistics Michigan reached the fourth week of the Big Ten season just a half-game out of first place in the conference, and 17-1 overall. The Wolverines carried a boatload of statistics with them to underscore why they stood where they did. Through 18 games, John Beilein's crew averaged 79.3 points per game,