Michigan Men’s Basketball opens at No. 6 in AP Poll, Top 3 in Ken Pom rankings

The 2021-22 Michigan men’s basketball team will open the season ranked No. 6 in the Top 25 College Basketball poll conducted by The Associated Press.

Juwan Howard and company are also ranked high to start the year in the 2022 Ken Pom rankings, as the Wolverines are ranked third in adjusted offense and first in adjusted defense.

Michigan is coming off a successful 2020-21 season, finishing with a 23-5 record and an impressive 14-3 conference record, winning their first Big Ten championship since 2014.

Those accolades earned the Wolverines a one seed in the 2021 NCAA DI Men’s Basketball Tournament, where they fell to the UCLA Bruins one game short of the Final Four.

Michigan is the top-ranked Big Ten team in the AP poll, with Purdue (No. 7), Illinois (No. 11), Ohio State (No. 17), and Maryland (No. 21) also representing the conference.

The Wolverines open their season with an exhibition game against Wayne State on Friday, Nov. 5, before starting off the regular season against Buffalo on Wednesday, Nov. 10, on the Big Ten Network.