Michigan Basketball Tumbles in ESPN's Way-Too-Early 2026-27 Top 25

Following Dusty May's exit, Michigan slides down the list.

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It's been a chaotic couple of weeks for the reigning national champions. It appeared like Michigan was on smooth sailing heading into the new season, after landing one of the top recruiting classes, along with three big men in the transfer portal.

But you never assume.

In the blink of an eye, it all changed for Michigan. Dusty May was off to the NBA to coach the Dallas Mavericks and it was up to interim head coach Mike Boynton Jr. to save the day. So far, he has done just that. Michigan has arguably its top four players coming back to play for the Wolverines next season.

But with the uncertainly in Ann Arbor, ESPN dropped Michigan in its latest top 25.

Michigan falls three spots

Even with losing Yaxel Lendeborg, Aday Mara, and Morez Johnson Jr., along with three key seniors, Michigan was still ranked as the No. 2 team heading into next season.

But with the May news, the Wolverines fell to No. 5 — which is still good.

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"Assuming Thiam stays after May's departure [he announced he was returning after this published], he could take a huge step in his development, in Ann Arbor. He was terrific down the stretch of the past season, averaging 18.0 points, 10.4 rebounds and 1.9 blocks over his final eight games at Cincinnati, and was dominant against Kansas and Texas Tech in February," ESPN wrote.

Florida, Duke, Illinois, and UConn are ranked ahead of Michigan. All four of those programs not only have their head coach returning next season, but each either has key pieces coming back from last year, or like Michigan, has one of the top-rated recruiting classes.

A preseason top-five ranking is nothing to be ashamed about

After winning the national title — you want respect. And after losing your top three big men, along with the best coach in college basketball, being ranked No. 5 is quite respectful.

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Michigan is sort of in limbo right now. Mike Boynton Jr. is the interim head coach, but AD Warde Manuel's statement didn't hint that Boynton was going to be Michigan's long-term coach, however, Boynton is currently acting like that's going to be the case, and he wants to see that interim tag come off.

Boynton is doing all the right things, but now fans are going to need to see him do similar things as May. It's going to be large shoes to fill, but if Michigan can enter next season with its roster nearly intact, and wins come, fans might feel better about Boynton being the permanent solution.