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Where Michigan stands in 2025-26 way-too-early college basketball rankings: Wolverines as high as No. 5

clayton-sayfieby:Clayton Sayfie•04/08/25•

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Dusty May
Michigan Wolverines basketball head coach Dusty May led his team to the Sweet 16 in 2025. (Photo by Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images)

Michigan Wolverines basketball won 27 games and made a run to the Sweet 16 in 2024-2025, its first season under head coach Dusty May. Work for 2025-26 has long been underway, and now that the college basketball season has ended with Florida winning the national title, it’s time for an early look at next year.

Michigan is showing up in “way-too-early” top 25 rankings ahead of the 2025-26 campaign. Here’s a roundup of where five different publications have placed the Maize and Blue. The Wolverines checked in as high as No. 5 and as low as No. 15.

ESPN: No. 5

Top 10: No. 1 Houston, No. 2 Purdue, No. 3 Louisville, No. 4 UConn, No. 5 Michigan, No. 6 Kentucky, No. 7 Arkansas, No. 8 Duke, No. 9 St. John’s, No. 10 UCLA

Big Ten: No. 2 Purdue, No. 5 Michigan, No. 10 UCLA, No. 14 Wisconsin, No. 18 Michigan State, No. 23 Ohio State

Jeff Borzello: “Dusty May has hit the portal early, landing three potential starters for the next season in [forward] Yaxel Lendeborg (UAB), [point guard] Elliot Cadeau (North Carolina) and [forward] Morez Johnson Jr. (Illinois). Lendeborg is a borderline first-round draft pick, so there’s a chance he’ll leave, but Cadeau is an incredibly gifted passer and Johnson is primed for a big jump down low. The Wolverines also have returnees [guard] Roddy Gayle Jr. and [guard] Nimari Burnett, and five-star [guard] signee Trey McKenney on the wings.”

Borzello also projected Michigan’s starting lineup as Cadeau, Gayle, Burnett, Lendeborg and Johnson.

Sporting News: No. 11

Top 10: No. 1 Duke, No. 2 Arkansas, No. 3 Houston, No. 4 Florida, No. 5 Michigan State, No. 6 Purdue, No. 7 Arizona, No. 8 Texas Tech, No. 9 Kentucky, No. 10 BYU

Big Ten: No. 5 Michigan State, No. 6 Purdue, No. 11 Michigan, No. 14 UCLA, No. 22 Oregon

Mike DeCourcey: “They’ve no doubt gotten a genuine point guard in essentially exchanging Tre Donaldson for Elliott Cadeau, but it’ll be interesting to see if he can make them appreciably better.”

On3: No. 11

Top 10: No. 1 Houston, No. 2 Duke, No. 3 Alabama, No. 4 Kentucky, No. 5 Louisville, No. 6 Florida, No. 7 Iowa State, No. 8 North Carolina, No. 9 Kansas, No. 10 St. John’s

Big Ten: No. 11 Michigan, No. 12 Purdue, No. 19 Illinois, No. 20 Wisconsin, No. 21 UCLA, No. 23 Michigan State

Sports Illustrated: No. 12

Top 10: No. 1 Houston, No. 2 Purdue, No. 3 Duke, No. 4 UConn, No. 5 Louisville, No. 6 Kansas, No. 7 BYU, No. 8 St. John’s, No. 9 UCLA, No. 10 Auburn

Big Ten: No. 2 Purdue, No. 9 UCLA, No. 12 Michigan, No. 13 Wisconsin, No. 15 Michigan State, No. 18 Oregon

Kevin Sweeney: “No one has hit the portal harder than Michigan, which has added a trio of high-level talents in Yaxel Lendeborg (UAB), Elliot Cadeau (North Carolina) and Morez Johnson Jr. (Illinois). Lendeborg is expected to go through the draft process as well and may end up turning pro given how strong his stock is right now, but if he’s in Ann Arbor, the Wolverines will be a serious Big Ten contender.”

Fox Sports: No. 15

Top 10: No. 1 Houston, No. 2 Purdue, No. 3 Louisville, No. 4 Duke, No. 5 UConn, No. 6 Texas Tech, No. 7 Alabama, No. 8 St. John’s, No. 9 UCLA, No. 10 Iowa State

Big Ten: No. 2 Purdue, No. 9 UCLA, No. 15 Michigan, No. 18 Michigan State, No. 25 Iowa

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