Weekly Polls: Iowa Surges into Top Four, Michigan Receives Votes

On December 28, 2015, just before conference play began, Iowa received only seven votes in the AP poll and none in the Coaches poll. Four weeks later, the Hawkeyes are ranked #3 and #4 in those polls, respectively, and deservedly so. Not only are they a perfect 7-0 in the Big Ten, they have swept Michigan State (#12/11) and Purdue (#21/21) and have won six of those games by double digits. They're clearly playing like one of the nation's best teams, and the voters have realized it.

Another Big Ten team that received a big jump in the polls was Indiana, who is 7-0 in the Big Ten like Iowa, albeit against a much softer strength of schedule. Nonetheless, the Hoosiers dominated Illinois and Northwestern this past week, winning by an average of 33 points. Hence, Indiana soared from #25 to #19 in the AP and #23 to #17 in the Coaches.

Other Big Ten schools that should be noted are Maryland and Michigan. The Terps dropped a few spots but remained in the top 10 (#8/7) after their road loss to Michigan State, while the Wolverines received 10 votes in the Coaches and one vote in the AP.

Here are the full polls for January 25, 2016:

AP Top 25 Poll

USA Today Coaches Poll