There is a sense of optimism about Michigan football entering 2026, with Kyle Whittingham taking over the program and hopefully bringing the results from his decades-long success story at Utah.
The Wolverines have a ton of talent, but fell short last season, going 9-4, a one-game improvement upon the previous year. But with Bryce Underwood, Jordan Marshall, Andrew Marsh, and much of the offense returning, and now being optimized by OC Jason Beck, that side of the ball should take a big step forward. And new DC Jay Hill has a track record of also doing more with less.
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But the schedule is a daunting one, with Oklahoma, Iowa, Indiana, Penn State, Oregon, and Ohio State all on the docket.
Sporting News’ Bill Bender compiled all of the top too-early preseason rankings and made a composite ranking. With that, Michigan is assessed as the preseason No. 14 team (before spring ball), with a high ranking of No. 9 (CBS Sports) and a low ranking of No. 18 (ESPN). Of the teams on the schedule, Ohio State is ranked No. 1, Indiana is No. 4, Oregon is No. 5, Oklahoma is No. 10, Penn State is No. 20, and Iowa is No. 21.
Michigan should have the firepower to be able to contend with most of the aforementioned six teams on the schedule, and four of them are at home (Oregon and Ohio State are on the road). And some outlets appear to believe that even if the Wolverines lose three games, they could still be in the College Football Playoff hunt, given the difficulty of the games that they’ll have to play.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Michigan football 2026: New coach, brutal schedule, CFP hopes
