Michigan ranked No. 1 in final AP Top 25 poll of season ahead of UConn, Arizona, Duke and Illinois

Michigan is No. 1 in the final Associated Press Top 25 men's college basketball poll for the 2025-26 season after winning the program's first national championship in 37 years.

The Wolverines (37-3) claimed all 57 votes in Tuesday's poll in the third year the AP has released its final rankings after the completion of the NCAA Tournament. Michigan beat UConn 69-63 in Indianapolis on Monday night to complete the winningest season in program history, along with winning its first NCAA title since 1989 and the Big Ten's first since 2000.

Michigan spent a week at No. 1 in mid-February and didn't rank lower than fourth after November in its second season under Dusty May.

Yaxel Lendeborg, an AP first-team All-American, had said before the Final Four that this could go down as the best team in program history, including the famed “Fab Five” freshman teams that reached the NCAA title game in 1992 and 1993. Standing amid the confetti on the court after Monday night’s win, Lendeborg figured this year’s group had done enough to earn that distinction.

“I think we are, man,” said Lendeborg, who battled through ankle and knee injuries suffered in the win against Arizona in the national semifinals. “I’m waiting for the Fab Five to give us the approval. But if they do, then I’ll let it be said that we’re the best team ever.”

UConn (34-6) jumped five spots to No. 2 after its March Madness run, including an incredible comeback from 19 down to stun Duke in the Elite Eight and keep alive its chances for a third national title in four seasons. Arizona was third, followed by Duke, which held the No. 1 ranking before March Madness and was the tournament's top overall seed before a loss to UConn in the Elite Eight.

Illinois was next, climbing eight spots to No. 5 after the program's first trip to the Final Four since 2005. That marked the second time that a team went from being ranked outside the top 10 to cracking the top five after a Final Four run, the other being Alabama jumping 16 spots to No. 3 to end the 2024 season.

Purdue, Houston, Iowa State, Florida and St. John's rounded out the top 10.

Tennessee finished at No. 12 after reaching the Elite Eight for the third straight year. The Volunteers' postseason push vaulted them 11 spots, making them the biggest climber from the March 16 poll before the NCAA Tournament.

In all, nine teams ranked from the previous poll moved up in the season's final rankings.

Virginia had the poll's biggest tumble, falling eight spots to No. 17 after falling in the second round to the Volunteers as a 3-seed.

No. 18 Gonzaga and No. 25 Wisconsin both fell six spots after failing to make the second weekend. The Cavaliers, Zags and Badgers were among 11 ranked teams from March 16 to tumble while still remaining inside the final poll.

Iowa and Texas both jumped into the poll after being unranked heading into March Madness. The Hawkeyes finished the season ranked No. 15 after reaching the Elite Eight in a run that included a second-round upset of top-seeded Florida.

Iowa's jump marked the third time a team that was unranked going into the NCAAs hopped into the top 15 in the post-tournament AP poll. The other two came in 2024, with N.C. State sitting at No. 10 after its improbable Final Four run and Clemson at No. 14 after reaching the Elite Eight.

The 22nd-ranked Longhorns entered the poll after going from the First Four to the Sweet 16.

Iowa and Texas replaced North Carolina (No. 21) and St. Mary's (No. 22) from the previous poll.

The Big Ten dominated this year's tournament, first by getting a league-record six teams into the Sweet 16 then tying the tournament's overall record with four teams in the Elite Eight before ultimately sending Michigan and Illinois to Indianapolis. The league finished with a national-best seven teams in the final AP Top 25 of the season.

The Southeastern Conference was next with six ranked teams, followed by the Big 12 with five, the Atlantic Coast Conference with four and the Big East with two. The West Coast Conference with Gonzaga was the only league from outside the power conferences to have a Top 25 team.

AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

Duke guard Dame Sarr celebrates a basket against UConn during the first half in the Elite Eight of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, March 29, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Michigan's Nimari Burnett (4) and Arizona's Tobe Awaka (30) reach for a rebound as Michigan's Elliot Cadeau, bottom, watches during the first half of an NCAA college basketball tournament semifinal game at the Final Four, Saturday, April 4, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

UConn guard Braylon Mullins (24) dishes off around Michigan guard Roddy Gayle Jr. (11) during the second half of the NCAA college basketball tournament national championship game at the Final Four, Monday, April 6, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Michigan celebrates after defeating UConn in the NCAA college basketball tournament national championship game at the Final Four, Monday, April 6, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Michigan forward Yaxel Lendeborg celebrates after defeating UConn in the NCAA college basketball tournament national championship game at the Final Four, Monday, April 6, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks sank Tuesday as the countdown ticked toward the latest deadline set by President Donald Trump to destroy Iranian power plants and bridges.

The S&P 500 fell 0.8% as Trump threatened that a “whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again” if Iran does not meet his deadline at 8 p.m. Eastern time to open the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian officials, meanwhile, urged young people to form human chains to protect sites Trump has threatened to bomb.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 370 points, or 0.8%, with an hour remaining in trading, and the Nasdaq composite was 1% lower.

The moves were tentative, much like they've been since the start of the war with Iran, because of deep uncertainty about when the fighting may end. During the first hour of Tuesday's trading, the Dow careened between a gain of 74 points and a loss of 425.

Oil prices were likewise shaky. The price for a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude to be delivered in May briefly climbed above $117 before settling at $112.95, up 0.5%.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, to be delivered slightly later in the year, in June, eased by 0.5% to $109.27. But it's still well above its roughly $70 level from before the war began in late February.

Oil prices have spiked because the war has snarled the production and transportation of crude in the Persian Gulf. Much of that oil exits the gulf through the Strait of Hormuz to reach customers around the world, but Iran has blocked it to enemies.

The worry in markets has been that a long-term disruption will keep oil prices high for a long time and send a painful wave of inflation crashing through the global economy. Iran on Monday rejected the latest ceasefire proposal and instead said it wants a permanent end to the war.

So far in the war, Trump has made a series of threats to blow up Iranian power plants if it doesn’t open the Strait of Hormuz, only to delay it several times. The possibility remains that Trump could back down again, among other scenarios, which is keeping uncertainty high.

A year ago, Trump ultimately backed off many of the stiff tariffs that he initially threatened to put on imports from other countries, though they ended up higher than from before his second term.

“Investors are likely to remain on edge and markets unable to establish trends, probably until there is a clear outcome later this evening: a deal, the U.S./Israeli strikes intensify, or Iran’s retaliation becomes escalatory instead of proportional,” according to Paul Christopher, head of global investment strategy at Wells Fargo Investment Institute.

On Wall Street, companies with big fuel bills fell to some of the sharpest losses as high oil prices cranked up the pressure.

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings dropped 4.8%, and United Airlines sank 3.6%.

Companies whose customers may have the least room to absorb the recent jump in gasoline prices also struggled. Dollar Tree slid 5.1%, and Dollar General fell 2.3%.

The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline across the United States has leaped to $4.14, according to AAA. It was below $3 a couple days before the United States and Israel launched attacks to begin the war in late February.

Stocks of health insurers helped limit the market’s losses after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said Medicare Advantage payments will likely see a net average increase of 2.48% in 2027. That was well ahead of what some investors expected, according to UBS analysts led by AJ Rice.

UnitedHealth Group jumped 9.6%, and Humana rose 8.8%.

Universal Music Group also helped limit losses for global stock indexes after Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management offered to buy the record label behind Taylor Swift and Bad Bunny in a cash-and-stock deal valued at approximately $64 billion.

Pershing Square argued the proposed deal would clear uncertainty that’s weighed on UMG’s stock. Its share price in Amsterdam jumped 11.4% but remained below what Pershing said its bid is worth. That could indicate investor doubt that the deal will happen.

In stock markets abroad, indexes fell across much of Europe. Asian stock indexes were stronger, with South Korea’s Kospi up 0.8% for one of the world’s bigger gains.

In the bond market, Treasury yields held relatively steady ahead of Trump’s looming deadline. The yield on the 10-year Treasury held at 4.34%, where it was late Monday.

That's well above its 3.97% level from before the war, and the rise has pushed up rates for mortgages and other loans going to U.S. households and businesses, which slows the economy.

AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.

John Mauro works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Tuesday, April 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Ed Curran works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Tuesday, April 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

People work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

A general view shows the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, March 27, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

People stand in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Tuesday, April 7, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Tuesday, April 7, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Tuesday, April 7, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)