NCAA Basketball Power Rankings: Baylor rolling, Ohio State tumbling

Michigan is in a bit of a slump right now. Ever since their run at the Battle 4 Atlantis earlier in the season, the Wolverines have won just four of their last nine games with two of those victories coming over teams ranked outside of the KenPom top 250. The team still boasts plenty of high-quality wins to warrant inclusion in these power rankings but it is yet to win a true road game this season. Michigan moved to 0-4 in such contests during this past week when it lost by eight to Minnesota.

While three neutral-site wins at the B4A look good, even those are diminishing in value a bit (except for the win over Gonzaga. That one is still excellent). North Carolina, most notably, was viewed as a strong victory at the time but it now sits at just No. 83 on KenPom. That is no longer a great neutral-site win for head coach Juwan Howard. It is also worth mentioning that their win over Iowa State (No. 56) isn’t necessarily spectacular, either.

I am still a believer in Michigan as a clear-cut NCAA Tournament team but it has dipped out of major contention for the Big Ten title, in my opinion. The Wolverines are already behind the eight ball a bit with a 2-3 conference record and that will be difficult to overcome.

Losing Isaiah Livers for the past few games has definitely hurt but it also appears as though Michigan’s daunting schedule to this point is catching up with it. Michigan has faced the nation’s fourth-toughest schedule (per KenPom) so far this season. That will take a toll on a squad and hopefully the Wolverines can return to their previous levels moving forward. Winning on the road would be a key step in that resurgence.