Looking ahead to the 2026 college football season, there's no a bigger wildcard than the Michigan Wolverines.
That's what Joel Klatt said at least when he released his preseason top 25 for the upcoming season. The Fox Sports analyst, who covers Big Ten games on Big Noon, has Michigan football ranked 10th going into the 2026 season, calling them the second-biggest wildcard in college football.
“Probably higher than most, but this is the second-biggest wildcard team in college football,” Klatt said on his Podcast, pointing out that LSU was his No. 1 wildcard.
Klatt has always been a big fan of Michigan football head coach Kyle Whittingham. He has praised the hire this offseason, along with many others. People have often said that the Wolverines fell into an upgrade with Whittingham, who won 68 percent of his games with the Utah Utes, a tenure that included three conference championships and an undefeated season in 2008.
“I believe in Kyle Whittingham,” Klatt said. “You guys know that with the way I’ve talked about Utah over the years. I used to say, ‘Death, taxes and Utah football.’ I should say, ‘Death, taxes and Kyle Whittingham.’”
Joel Klatt's one reservation about Michigan football in 2026
Klatt talked about how Michigan football has more talent than people realize. The Wolverines started three redshirt freshman on the offensive line last season. Bryce Underwood was a true freshman at quarterback. You had another true freshman in Andrew Marsh playing wide receiver, along with redshirt freshman Jordan Marshall at running back.
That's what Klatt means when he says Michigan has six freshman playing last season. Some of them are now technically juniors, because redshirts don't exist anymore. Still, you have six key players returning, along with additions like J.J. Buchanan, Savion Hiter, Jaime Ffrench, Salesi Moa, and Travis Johnson. Zach Marshall and Hogan Hansen are back, too. Evan Link, Nathan Efobi, and Brady Norton are also back after starting games last season, with former five-star Andrew Babalola in the mix.
Michigan has a lot of experiernce on defense, too. Klatt clearly believes that Michigan will do what Whittingham's teams have always done: Play great defense and run the ball. The X-factor for this team is Bryce Underwood. This is a top-10 roster if Underwood is the kind of QB we think he can be.
“You’ve got Underwood. Can he develop? Seventeen total touchdowns, 11 turnovers. That has to improve; there’s no doubt,” Klatt said. “But Jason Beck has a track record of getting the most out of his quarterbacks — in particular, athletic quarterbacks.”
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