Feb 17, 2026
3 min read
Michigan Basketball was officially ranked No. 1 in Monday's AP poll.However, head coach Dusty May is far from satisfied:
After winning the top spot in KenPom, the NET Rankings, EvanMiya.com and Bart Torvik, the Michigan Wolverines won the top spot in the final ranking - the AP Poll - on Monday afternoon.As Michigan continues to sit in perfect place as a 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament, most agree that the Wolverines are the top program.
Why the No. 1 ranking "means nothing" to Michigan coach Dusty May.
Michigan basketball officially moved into first place in the AP poll on Monday. However, head coach Dusty May is far from complacent:
Michigan had been No. 1 only four previous seasons: 1964-65, 1976-77, 1992-93 and 2012-13.A milestone doesn't guarantee anything, but the turnaround that head coach Dusty May has put together is one to be applauded and thanked for.Two years into his tenure, anMay has a Big Ten Tournament championship, an appearance in the Sweet Sixteen and is now ranked #1 in college basketball.
"With our team last year, we didn't have enough dogs to win the championship," May said earlier this month."I liked our guys last year, but we didn't have enough dogs, so we were able to fix those recruiting issues. We were close (last year), but we didn't have enough. Sometimes it's just a year older, and sometimes, I think our team did a great job of fixing things that needed to be done on purpose."to improve, instead of hoping for a change in everything, but we learned from each of us.To be honest, this year, we expected to win a lot in our group and we think there is something big.
Given that expectation, it won't surprise you to hear that May has no confidence in the top ranking his team achieved on Monday.
It's a rank number, so it's interesting for the program and the audience, but it doesn't mean anything specifically to him.
"That being said, we have a really talented group of people -- coaches, players, support staff, everyone involved -- who make each other better," May said before ranking the teams."I think if you take away some of our guys, we're not as good. It's what they bring to the table, how we embrace each other and our strengths.
"As far as the No. 1 ranking, it doesn't mean anything anymore. I don't know, I've been on any staff, what position we were in at the end of the year, to be honest. I don't remember and it doesn't matter. Emotionally, it doesn't mean anything."
May has every reason to believe that, especially with his team's schedule.With a two-game lead in the top ten, the Wolverines finished the regular season at No.
It's been a special season so far, as it's the first Michigan team since the Fab Five in 1992-93 to have multiple double-digit winning streaks in a season.Add that to the best start in program history at 24-1 (including 14-1 in Big Ten play), plus a perfect 9-0 record against Quad 1 teams, and it makes perfect sense why Michigan is ranked at the top.
However, May will not be satisfied until she lifts the national championship trophy.
