Whittingham effect shows as Michigan opens No. 11 for 2026

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The 2025 college football season will conclude on Monday night with the national championship game between Indiana and Miami, but with that, some outlets are starting to look forward to 2026. And the Wolverines should be in a pretty good spot given all of the changes and the roster.

The end of 2025 for the Wolverines brought the ouster of Sherrone Moore and hiring of Kyle Whittingham and a whole new staff. In the past couple of weeks, the maize and blue have retained much of the roster while also adding key pieces to help Michigan football be in a good spot.

It will be a tough schedule this upcoming season, but that hasn't stopped On3's Ari Wasserman from putting Michigan at No. 11 in the outlet's too-early power rankings.

11. Michigan

Wasserman: Michigan’s 2024 ended in disaster with a loss to Ohio State, and things (somehow) got worse. The Sherrone Moore saga — which ended in his firing — was one of the more bizarre off-the-field stories you’ll find in college football. But what happened after is all really good stuff. The Wolverines hired former Utah coach Kyle Whittingham, retained quarterback Bryce Underwood and added a bunch of pieces in the transfer portal. Given Whittingham’s history and Michigan’s resources, the Wolverines should be a very tough out in the Big Ten next year.

Whittingham, who spent his entire coaching career at Utah, has managed to do less with more across his entire tenure. Thus, even with some hand-wringing about not getting ringers at some positions (linebacker and defensive tackle) may end up being moot given his track record.

But on the other side of the ball, not only did Michigan retain Bryce Underwood, it kept wide receiver Andrew Marsh, running back Jordan Marshall, and added wide receivers JJ Buchanan and Jaime Ffrench, running back Taylor Tatum, and should have a stellar offensive line, mentored by new OL coach Jim Harding.

Michigan will face several other teams in the On3 top 25, including No. 1 Ohio State, No. 5 Indiana, No. 6 Oregon, No. 10 Oklahoma, No. 14 Penn State, and No. 21 Iowa.

This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Michigan debuts at No. 11 in On3’s way-too-early 2026 rankings

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