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The third edition of the in-season men’s college basketball Power Rankings brings with it a third change at the No. 1 spot. And after what we saw this week from Dusty May’s Michigan team in Vegas, the Wolverines left no doubt about whether their newfound standing at the top is deserving.
In a Players Era event whose criteria of advancing in a nonbracket tournament was solely scoring differential, Michigan accepted the challenge and, stunningly, destroyed everyone in its path. Case in point: After entering the week with an 18.3 point scoring margin against opponents that ranked, on average, 96.8 at KenPom.com, it defeated three teams in three days this week in Las Vegas whose average KenPom rating is 25.7 — and by an average margin of 36.7 (!!!) points.
Of those three wins, two (Monday vs. San Diego State and Wednesday vs. Gonzaga) were by more than 40 points.
There are teams in college basketball whose resume is perhaps better than Michigan’s right now, I will concede. (I see ya still, Arizona.) But this is the Power Rankings, after all. It’s all about who is peaking right now. And as of right now, no one is hotter than Michigan.
Who’s college basketball’s best team? Michigan makes case with emphatic, history-making Players Era title run
Matt Norlander
Let’s dive in to the latest Power Rankings where there are plenty of changes across the…
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