Michigan up to No. 3 in AP Top 25
men's basketball poll, Michigan State and Iowa State into top 10
[December 02, 2025]
By JOHN MARSHALL
Michigan jumped to No. 3 in the Associated Press Top 25 men’s
basketball poll on Monday as rival Michigan State and Iowa State
both climbed into the top 10.
No. 1 Purdue and No. 2 Arizona remained atop the rankings. The
Boilermakers received 40 first-place votes from a 61-person media
panel, Arizona got six and Michigan got 15 after its dominating run
through the Players Era Championship.
Duke and UConn held their positions from last week to round out the
top five. Louisville remained No. 6, followed by Michigan State,
which moved up four spots and No. 8 Houston, which dropped five
places after losing to then-No. 17 Tennessee at Players Era.
Michigan made a run to the Sweet 16 in coach Dusty May's first
season a year ago and is looking like a title contender. The
Wolverines opened the Las Vegas tournament with a 94-54 win over San
Diego State, crushed then-No. 21 Auburn 102-72 and handed Gonzaga
coach Mark Few his worst loss in 902 career games with a 101-61 win
over the 12th-ranked Zags.
That's three wins by a combined 110 points and four straight wins by
at least 20 points, the last two over ranked teams.
“Today was to put the world on notice that we’re here to be the best
team in the nation and we’ll continue to do that,” Michigan forward
Yaxel Lendeborg said after the win over Gonzaga.
Rising
No. 17 Vanderbilt had the biggest jump of the week, moving up seven
spots after winning the Battle 4 Atlantis title in the Bahamas.
No. 10 Iowa State climbed five places after winning three games at
the Players Era championship.
No. 7 Michigan State moved up four places following lopsided wins
over East Carolina and No. 16 North Carolina in the Fort Myers
Tip-Off. No. 13 Tennessee also gained four spots after beating
Houston and losing to Kansas, which moved back into the poll at No.
21.
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Michigan State center Coen Carr, No. 55 dunks the ball against East
Carolina during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game,
Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025 in Ft. Myers, Fla. (AP Photo/Scott Audette)
Falling
No. 23 St. John's had the biggest drop among teams still in the
poll, losing nine places after wrapping losses to Iowa State and
Auburn around a win over Baylor at the Players Era.
Reigning national champion Florida fell five places to No. 15 after
losing to TCU in the Rady Children's Invitational. No. 12 Alabama
dropped four places after losing to Gonzaga in its opener of the
Players Era.
In and out
No. 21 Kansas returned to the poll after dropping out last week with
three wins at the Players Era.
No. 24 Southern California is ranked for the first time since the
2023-24 season following three wins in three days to take the Maui
Invitational title.
UCLA fell out of the poll from No. 18 after losing to California
80-72 in the Empire Classic championship game.
North Carolina State dropped out of the poll from No. 23 and didn't
receive a single vote following a 1-2 run through the Maui
Invitational.
Conference watch
The Southeastern Conference had the most teams in the AP Top 25 for
the second straight week with seven. The Big 12 matched the Big Ten
with six ranked teams, the Atlantic Coast Conference had three, the
Big East had two and the West Coast Conference one.
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