AP Men's College Basketball Poll 2026 Final Rankings After Michigan Wins March Madness

Michigan climbed two spots to finish the season atop the Associated Press Top 25 poll after beating Connecticut 69-63 in the men's national championship.

The Wolverines only spent two weeks in the No. 1 spot this year but never fell lower than seventh.

The Huskies' runner-up status vaulted them from seventh to No. 2. Duke went down to fourth after leading the last four polls.

Final AP Top 25 Poll

1. Michigan (37-3)

2. UConn (34-6)

3. Arizona (36-3)

4. Duke (35-3)

5. Illinois (28-9)

6. Purdue (30-9)

7. Houston (30-7)

8. Iowa State (29-8)

9. Florida (27-8)

10. St. John's (30-7)

11. Michigan State (27-8)

12. Tennessee (25-12)

13. Arkansas (28-9)

14. Nebraska (28-7)

15. Iowa (24-13)

16. Alabama (25-10)

17. Virginia (30-6)

18. Gonzaga (31-4)

19. Vanderbilt (27-9)

20. Kansas (24-11)

21. Texas Tech (23-11)

22. Texas (21-15)

23. Louisville (24-11)

24. Miami (26-9)

25. Wisconsin (24-11)

Reaching the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament catapulted Tennessee up 11 spots to No. 12. Illinois occupied a top-10 position at year's end (No. 5) for the third time under head coach Brad Underwood after advancing to its first Final Four since 2005.

Iowa and Texas also went from unranked to ranked thanks to pulling off some upsets and getting to the regional final and semifinals respectively.

Florida, who got knocked off by the Hawkeyes in the second round, ended its national title defense in ninth. Big 12 powers Iowa State (eighth) and Houston (seventh) also lost ground after going down in the Sweet 16.

Michigan swept aside the competition in the NCAA prior to Monday's championship game. Not surprisingly, UConn proved much more difficult to put away.

Even when the Huskies trailed by nine points with a little over a minute left, they refused to throw in the towel. A pair of free throws from Alex Karaban and a three-pointer from Solo Ball made it a 67-63 game.

Karaban could've trimmed the deficit to a point but saw his long-range jumper hit the front rim.

UConn Huskies-Michigan Wolverines Highlights

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Wolverines star Yaxel Lendeborg played through MCL and ankle sprains, and the impact of the injuries was evident as he shot 4-of-13 from the field. Still, he logged 36 minutes and finished with 13 points.

Elliot Cadeau's 19 points were a game high, while Morez Johnson Jr. capped off the season with a double-double (12 points, 10 rebounds).

Neither team shot well, but UConn was particularly poor. The Huskies couldn't get a kind bounce from the Lucas Oil Stadium rims as they went 9-of-33 from beyond the arc. They were outscored by 14 points inside the paint as well.

Michigan fans know better than to make any assumptions about the future. Thirty-seven years separate the Wolverines' two national championships.

Still, coach Dusty May needed just two seasons to get the program to the summit of men's basketball, and he did it without loading up on blue-chip talent. Michigan's 2025 recruiting class was 29th in 247Sports' composite team rankings, and Cadeau and Trey McKenney are the only two players who were 5-star recruits coming out of high school.

May rebuffed interest from North Carolina, and it's hard seeing him take another college job given what he has already achieved in Ann Arbor. The Athletic's Brendan Marks reported NBA teams could also make a run at him, though.

Assuming the 49-year-old isn't tempted by that opportunity, Michigan has a bright future with him on the sideline.