Top 25 And 1: Michigan, Michigan State heading toward a great finale
The last game on CBS before arriving at the final week of the conference tournaments will be played Sunday at the Crisler Center, where Michigan will host Michigan State. It will be a showdown between in-state rivals who are both in the top eight in the daily CBS Sports Top 25 and 1 college basketball rankings updated Monday morning, where Duke remains No. 1 for the ninth straight day.
Michigan is No. 2. Michigan State is No. 8.
Sunday tip-off is set for 4:30 p.m. ET.
Will this determine the Big Ten title? No. Impressively, the Wolverines have already locked that in thanks to a 17-1 league record with just two regular season games remaining. Michigan State and Nebraska are tied for second in the conference standings, three games behind Michigan with a 14-4 record in league play, and it doesn’t take a mathematician to understand that it’s impossible to overcome a three-game deficit in a regular-season standings with just two regular-season games left.
So no, it won’t be for a conference championship.
But it will still be great!
And, as long as no one is injured between now and then, it should feature two top candidates for Big Ten player of the year in Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg and Michigan State’s Jeremy Fears Jr., the latter of whom had 21 points, nine assists, four rebounds and a steal in Sunday’s 77-64 win at Indiana that extended the Hoosiers’ losing streak to four games and pushed them further away from the bubble. 2026. NCAA Tournament.
March Madness 2026: 68 things to know to prepare for conference tournaments and the Big Dance
Isaac Trotter
Michigan State’s move from No. 10 to No. 8 in Monday’s Top 25 and 1 due to Sunday’s win at Indiana moved Iowa State and Illinois down one spot each, through no fault of their own. Likewise, Purdue dropping from No. 14 to No. 16 in Monday’s Top 25 and 1 due to Sunday’s loss at Ohio State allowed Virginia and Gonzaga to move up one spot each, without merit, especially since both are coming off weekend losses – Virginia is at Duke, Gonzaga is at Saint Mary’s.
Rankings Top 25 And 1
