Michigan drops to No. 5, Michigan State tumbles to No. 16 in AP basketball poll

Michigan State continued to plummet in the Associated Press Top 25 poll. Michigan dipped, too, with a big week ahead.

Michigan State (6-3) fell five spots to No. 16 while Michigan (8-1) dropped a spot to No 5 in this week's poll, released Monday. In the coaches poll, Michigan is ranked No. 7 (down two spots), and Michigan State is No. 15 (down three).

Louisville and Kansas finally provided some consistency to what has been a volatile Top 25 poll this season, while North Carolina joined Michigan State as perennial blue bloods who continue to tumble after another wave of defeats.

The Cardinals solidified their place at No. 1 in the AP Top 25 released Monday by routing then-No. 4 Michigan in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge and breezing past Pittsburgh over the past week. The Jayhawks stayed at No. 2 after returning from their Maui Invitaitonal title to thump former Big 12 member Colorado.

“I think it’s two games in a row, where we got stops,” Louisville coach Chris Mack said. “We didn’t allow second shots. We ran the clock on offense. We got great looks. We got layups, and that’s a killer.”

Ohio State jumped from sixth to third following its 74-49 rout of then-No. 7 North Carolina and a Big Ten blowout of Penn State. Maryland dropped one spot to fourth despite continuing to pile up wins, while Michigan slid one spot to round out the top five after Juwan Howard’s bunch ran into the Louisville buzzsaw for their first loss of the season.

Michigan, which bounced back to defeat Iowa, 103-91, on Friday night, has another tough week in store, at Illinois (6-3) on Wednesday, and home against No. 10 Oregon (7-2) on Saturday.

The Spartans continued their fall from preseason No. 1 after losing to Duke, this time dropping from 11th to No. 16. Michigan State bounced back with a 77-65 victory over Rutgers on Sunday night, and next play Oakland on Saturday at Little Caesars Arena.

The Tar Heels tumbled 10 spots to No. 17 after getting crushed by Ohio State and losing to No. 9 Virginia.

San Diego State joined the rankings at No. 25.

Associated Press Top 25

1. Louisville (55 first-place votes), 9-0, 1591 points (last week: 1)

2. Kansas (4), 7-1, 1486 (2)

3. Ohio State (5), 9-0, 1464 (6)

4. Maryland, 10-0, 1428 (3)

5. Michigan, 8-1, 1286 (4)

6. Gonzaga, 10-1, 1235 (9)

7. Duke, 9-1, 1232 (10)

8. Kentucky, 7-1, 1170 (8)

9. Virginia, 8-1, 1060 (5)

10. Oregon, 7-2, 905 (13)

11. Baylor, 7-1, 872 (18)

12. Auburn, 8-0, 836 (14)

13. Memphis, 8-1, 756 (15)

14. Dayton, 7-1, 672 (19)

15. Arizona, 9-1, 654 (12)

16. Michigan State, 6-3, 637 (11)

17. North Carolina, 6-3, 615 (7)

18. Butler, 9-0, 529 (24)

19. Tennessee, 7-1, 455 (21)

20. Villanova, 7-2, 285 (23)

21. Florida State, 8-2, 253 (17)

22. Seton Hall, 6-3, 250 (16)

23. Xavier, 9-1, 216 (NR)

24. Colorado, 7-1, 210 (20)

25. San Diego State, 10-0, 197 (NR)

Others receiving votes: Utah State 160, Washington 144, Purdue 130, Indiana 13, Marquette 11, Liberty 9, Saint Mary's (Cal) 8, Texas 6, Florida 5, Penn State 5, Georgetown 4, Richmond 3, West Virginia 3, LSU 2, DePaul 1, Duquesne 1, VCU 1.

Coaches poll

1. Louisville (28), 9-0, 772 (1)

2. Ohio State (2), 9-0, 717 (6)

3. Kansas, 7-1, 714 (3)

4. Maryland (1), 10-0, 693 (4)

5. Duke, 9-1, 610 (8)

6. Gonzaga, 10-1, 589 (9)

7. Michigan, 8-1, 563 (5)

8. Virginia, 8-1, 533 (2)

9. Kentucky, 7-1, 523 (10)

10. Auburn, 8-0, 442 (13)

11. Baylor, 7-1, 438 (16)

12. Dayton, 7-1, 384 (17)

13. Oregon, 7-2, 374 (14)

14. Arizona, 9-1, 330 (11)

15. Michigan State, 6-3, 291 (12)

16. North Carolina, 6-3, 284 (7)

17. Tennessee, 7-1, 263 (20)

17. Memphis, 8-1, 263 (18)

19. Butler, 9-0, 250 (24)

20. Villanova, 7-2, 190 (22)

21. Florida State, 8-2, 189 (19)

22. Seton Hall, 6-3, 131 (15)

23. Colorado, 7-1, 100 (21)

24. San Diego State, 10-0, 82 (NR)

25. Washington, 7-2, 72 (23)

Others receiving votes: Purdue 68, Xavier 66, Utah State 32, VCU 17, Texas 12, Oklahoma 11, Indiana 10, LSU 10, Oklahoma State 10, DePaul 9, Marquette 8, Wichita State 6, Florida 4, Saint Mary's 4, Stanford 4, Creighton 2, Iowa State 2, Arkansas 1, Liberty 1, Texas Tech 1.