Michigan Football: Where Wolverines, Big Ten teams rank AP Top 25

Michigan football wasn’t among the top 25 teams in the AP poll which was released on Tuesday. Here’s a breakdown of where U-M and other Big Ten teams rank. 

It only took one week for chaos to spread through the AP Top 25. Eight ranked teams lost in week 1. That partly is due to there being five matchups between teams ranked in the AP Top 25.

However, No. 10 North Carolina, No. 16 LSU, and No. 20 Washington all lost to unranked opponents. North Carolina and LSU at least have the excuse of losing to quality opponents on the road in Virginia Tech and UCLA, respectively.

Washington lost to FCS foe Montana at home and only scored seven points in the process. The Huskies became the first ranked team to lose its season opener to an FCS opponent since Iowa in 2016. Washington will look to bounce back against Michigan football on Saturday night.

Michigan football remains unranked though it did move up one spot in the receiving votes section from 32 to 31. The Wolverines will miss out on the opportunity to gain a victory over an AP Top 25 team after Washington’s loss.

Michigan football’s path to the AP Top 25

However, the Wolverines path to entering the rankings is pretty straightforward. If Michigan beat Washington, it will then have very two winnable home games against Northern Illinois and Rutgers. Should Michigan football take care of business at home,  it will head to Wisconsin at 4-0.

It is reasonable to assume U-M will move up six spots (or more) will open up in the rankings by then.

Speaking of Wisconsin, it was one of the ranked teams to lose last week. The Badgers fell to Penn State 16-10 in a defensive slugfest. Wisconsin fell six spots to No.18 while the Nittany Lions moved up eight spots to No. 11.

As for other Big Ten teams, Ohio State moved up one spot to No. 3 after Oklahoma’s close call with Tulane. Iowa moved up eight spots to No.10 after its 34-6 thumping of Indiana.

The Hoosiers fell from to No. 17 to No. 33 in the receiving votes section. One spot behind the Hoosiers is Michigan State. The Spartans earned a few votes this comes in at No. 34 after not receiving a single vote in the preseason polls.