Michigan football players embracing difficult 2026 schedule

The release of the preseason US LBM Coaches Poll on Tuesday, Aug. 4, added further evidence to a growing conclusion: Michigan football has an extremely tough schedule.

Six of U-M’s 12 opponents in 2026 enter the season ranked: No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Oregon, No. 6 Indiana, No. 9 Oklahoma, No. 17 Penn State and No. 22 Iowa. The Wolverines‘ nonconference schedule also includes Western Michigan (in the season opener on Sept. 5), which received votes from the coaches. On paper, it’s the Wolverines‘ toughest schedule in years.

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In part because of the gantlet U-M will face, combined with questions surrounding a new coach and coaching staff and a quarterback who underperformed his admittedly lofty expectations as a freshman, Michigan was picked to finish fifth in the Big Ten in a preseason media poll.

The players – respectfully, of course – couldn’t care less.

“So what, now what, you know what I mean,” tight end Zack Marshall said of the team’s mentality. “I guess quoting J.J. [McCarthy] it would be, ‘Bet.’ … I mean, we expect us to be the best. So that’s all that matters is what’s in this building. The 200-something fingerprints that can actually get in this door. Those are the ones that we care about.

“Whatever the media, sorry, says or however we’re portrayed on Twitter, [we don’t care]. … the 200 people that we care about’s opinions are here, and those opinions are that we’re going to be a really dang good team this year.”

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While there’s confidence in the team that trains in Schembechler Hall, the players acknowledge tests await them. Chief among those: A Week 2 date with Oklahoma, which comes off a College Football Playoff appearance; an October matchup with reigning CFP champion Indiana, a trip out West to play Oregon (which is 45-4 at home since 2019) and, of course the annual regular-season finale against Ohio State, this year in Columbus.

Michigan has a two-game win streak in Columbus for the only time this century; a win after Thanksgiving would make it three straight for the first time since 1986-90. But for a team that wants to show the country its improvement over the one that missed the CFP each of the past two seasons, it’ll be a tough task.

“As far as team goals, the big for us is just to go win the Big Ten,” wide receiver Andrew Marsh said. “I mean, competition is only good. Iron sharpens iron, so to me, this is one of the best conferences. Really, it’s just good looks for the pros. We like to call them ‘money games.'”

The Wolverines didn’t fare well in those “money games” a year ago, going 0-4 against ranked teams in 2025: U-M lost by 11 to Oklahoma, 18 to USC and 18 to Ohio State in the regular season before falling by 14 to Texas in the Citrus Bowl: .

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But for those who’ve been around for a while, it wasn’t all that long ago when Michigan consistently came out on top in its biggest games.

Sixth-year safety Rod Moore was part of the 40-3 run from 2021-23, which included three wins over top-five Ohio State squads, three wins over ranked Penn State teams (including two when Penn State was in the top 15), three wins in Big Ten title games and January 2024 victories over Alabama in the Rose Bowl and Washington in the CFP title game.

“We all have the same mindset of winning and can’t do that by being out here just BS-ing around, not, you know, taking everything so seriously,” Moore said. “Everybody has glued into the same goal, to win, and the first thing is to win the Big Ten.

“We really don’t care who’s talking about us or not. Sept. 5 comes, they’re going to see what’s going on.”

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Tony Garcia is the Michigan beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football players embracing difficult 2026 schedule