Why this national analyst is ‘quietly purchasing’ Michigan Football stock for 2026

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We’re just a couple days away from the Michigan Wolverines starting their 2026 campaign against the Western Michigan Broncos. Each week this season, we’ll recap some of the top things we’ve heard from the national media, the coaches on either side, the media and the fans.

Let’s dig into what folks are saying heading into Week 1:

The National View: Josh Pate doubles down on Michigan as a team to watch

On Josh Pate’s College Football Show on YouTube, Pate took comments from fans, voicing his opposite positioning from popular takes across the country. This clip came from a social media post saying “Bryce Underwood will fail in 2026.”

Pate was pretty clear he is much higher on the Wolverines than the national picture with his full comment:

“You know what? I don’t think he (will) at all. I think Bryce Underwood’s gonna have a pretty good year this year. I think he’ll be a very improved player. I could even paint a scenario where Michigan is, is in (the College Football Playoff) at the end. I could do that. I could sell you on that wide receiver room being way better than your usual Michigan wide receiver room, but also the identity of that team being fortified by a very physical run game, and Bryce Underwood contributing to that. And I could sell you that that’s gonna be a hard enough nose team to compete in and win any game they play, and Bryce Underwood’s gonna be a reason why, instead of it happening in spite of him. I could sell you on these things because I’ve sold myself on it. have been quietly, very quietly purchasing Michigan stock. Very quietly. I’m not ready to be irresponsible about it. I didn’t put them in the playoff, but I’m not saying I’d be shocked if they were in it. That’s where I am with Michigan right now.”

Two days later, Pate joined Michigan alum Rich Eisen’s show and doubled down on his thoughts that Michigan fans could be in for a better season than expected:

National Coaches’ Take: Michigan No. 1 Sleeper according to coaches polled by The Athletic

Bruce Feldman and The Athletic polled coaches to give their takes and predictions about the upcoming season, and they voted Michigan as the biggest sleeper in the country. See what one of those coaches said in the post below:

From the HC: Goal is to win Big Ten with “markedly better” Underwood

Whittingham hasn’t been silent about his expectations for the team in his first year with the program. Even with one of the toughest schedules in the country, he stated that winning the conference is the expectation.

In the process, Whittingham praised the defensive line and said it was “seven or eight deep” at edge and “five deep on the interior,” calling the unit “very blessed.” On the other side, he matched Pate’s energy on Underwood by calling him “markedly better” and “way further ahead” than he was in the spring. This weekend’s a big step in showing that will translate when he could be hit by another team compared to wearing the maize jersey in practice.

Behind Enemy Lines: WMU coach uses Harbaugh-ism to describe Broncos’ approach to Saturday’s game

Jim Harbaugh may no longer be at Michigan, but Western Michigan’s head coach Lance Taylor channeled his inner Harbaugh at the podium on Monday:

“Our mentality is we’re going to attack every blade of grass and every day with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind.”

Yikes. Talk about stolen valor and a little bulletin board material for a group of Michigan veterans who came up at the end of the Harbaugh tenure.

Taylor went on to praise Whittingham and spoke about how the team is watching film from both BYU’s defense and the Utah team from last year in prep for Saturday’s contest.

Player Perspective: Jake Butt says Underwood’s legs an X-factor

It’s all been about Underwood’s arm this offseason, but what about his legs? Utah’s Devon Dampier ran for 835 yards on 146 attempts last season. While he is more of a running threat than Underwood, the sophomore showed flashes last year. New offensive coordinator Jason Beck might open that part of his game up even more in 2026.

MSU alums spew stupidity about Underwood

I thought about not giving this the light of day, but for the love of all that is holy, please do not pay any credence to the thoughts of Mike Valenti and Rico Beard on the Michigan Wolverines.

Their reasoning here for Tommy Carr, who was announced as the QB2 behind Underwood, to compete for the starting job because of a social media video is ridiculous. Even if the coaching staff loves Carr (which they have said as much throughout the offseason), a video of his parents saying how proud they are of him bears no weight into a potential quarterback battle in Ann Arbor.

That’s all for this week! Michigan and Western Michigan kickoff from the Big House on Saturday night at 7:36 p.m. ET on NBC.

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