No. 2 for the First Time: Michigan Passes Its 2022 High in the AP Poll After Beating UConn

Photo: The Dyme

Michigan women's basketball is No. 2 in the Associated Press Top 25, the highest ranking in program history. The Wolverines jumped three spots from their No. 5 preseason slot in Monday's poll, per the AP, and passed the old program high of No. 4, set on Feb. 7, 2022.

South Carolina stayed No. 1 with 823 points and 32 of 33 first-place votes, per the CBS Sports poll table. Michigan drew 777 points and no first-place votes. USC sits third at 734 with the other first-place vote. UConn, which started at No. 2, fell to No. 4 at 733 points. One point separates the Trojans and the Huskies. Forty-three points separate Michigan from third, by our count.

Coach Kim Barnes Arico gave the credit to her players and her staff in comments to the AP.

One Thursday moved the needle

The jump runs through one game. No. 5 Michigan beat No. 2 UConn 77-66 on Nov. 5 at Crisler Center, per the ESPN box score. The AP called it the biggest regular-season win in program history. Michigan Athletics called it the first top-five women's game ever played at Crisler and the program's third win over a top-five opponent.

The numbers from that night still hold up. Te'Yala Delfosse scored a career-best 22 on 8-of-13 shooting, with four 3s. Olivia Olson added 19 points, eight rebounds and four steals. Dallas Loughridge handed out nine of Michigan's 17 assists. Michigan made 9 of 20 from deep (45%). UConn made 8 of 31 (26%). UConn turned it over 19 times to Michigan's 14 and lost by 11 despite a 40-38 edge on the glass.

Michigan led 55-53 after three quarters and won the fourth 22-13. Delfosse hit back-to-back 3s for a 63-57 lead with 6:49 left, and the Wolverines never trailed again, per the ESPN play-by-play.

Then came Sunday. Michigan forced 28 Wright State turnovers, turned them into 43 points and won 109-52 at Crisler. Two games, two wins, and a 68-point combined margin, by our count from the two finals.

Why No. 2 is a different kind of number

A preseason ranking is a guess. The first regular-season AP poll after beating the preseason No. 2 is a verdict, at least for now. Michigan has been ranked for 123 AP poll weeks since 1981-82, per Sports-Reference. Not one of those weeks had the Wolverines above fourth until this one.

Last season shows how close the program got without breaking through. Michigan climbed from No. 14 to No. 6 in one week in November 2025 and sat at sixth for six straight polls (Nov. 17 through Dec. 22, 2025). The high-water mark that season was sixth. The final ranking was seventh, per Sports-Reference. The Michigan squad that set the old record in February 2022 spent one week at No. 4 and dropped to ninth the next Monday.

That one-week stay is worth remembering. A program-best ranking in November can be gone by December. Six of the top seven teams in this poll are unbeaten, and UConn is one point out of third with a road game at Ohio State on Thursday. The gap behind Michigan is thin.

The Big Ten has a crowded top 25

Michigan is one of 10 Big Ten teams in the new poll, by our count from the CBS Sports table: Michigan, USC, UCLA, Iowa, Washington, Ohio State, Minnesota, Maryland, Illinois and Nebraska. That is 40% of the poll from one league.

What comes next

Michigan plays at Columbia on Thursday at 7 p.m., per the CBS Sports schedule. Columbia's Megan Griffith is eligible to return from a three-game suspension for that game. Michigan doesn't need style points in New York. It needs to look like it belongs at No. 2 beyond this first regular-season poll.

The program has never been here. Getting here took one big Thursday. Staying here is a much longer project, and it starts on the road.

---

Sources:

• AP: Michigan surges to No. 2 in AP Top 25 women's poll after win over UConn
• CBS Sports: Women's college basketball AP Top 25
• On3: South Carolina holds No. 1 in AP poll
• Sports-Reference: Michigan women's basketball AP poll history
• ESPN: UConn vs. Michigan box score
• ESPN: UConn vs. Michigan play-by-play
• Michigan Athletics: Michigan makes history, knocks off No. 2 UConn
• The Dyme: 28 turnovers become 43 points as No. 5 Michigan beats Wright State 109-52
• The Dyme: Megan Griffith suspended 3 games, eligible to return for Columbia vs. Michigan Nov. 12