Michigan football schedule has a dream start written all over it

The 2026 Michigan football schedule was released on Tuesday, along with the schedules of other Big Ten programs.

The Wolverines under first-year head coach Kyle Whittingham will play four of its first five games of the 2026 season inside the Big House.

That starts with Western Michigan on September 5th. That was the game was expected to move to Ireland, before Michigan decided against that idea.

Oklahoma, led once again by John Mateer, will come to Ann Arbor for a non-conference showdown just like last September. This one could have playoff implcations as that game did.

UTEP will be the final non-conference opponent on September 19th. Big Ten play starts on September 26th, with a home game against Iowa, followed by a road game against Minnesota.

That's not the easiest schedule in the world. Oklahoma was a playoff team. Iowa finished inside the final top 25, as Michigan did, so nothing is a walk in the park. But it's very manageable, as is the game against Penn State on October 17th after the bye.

The defending national champions are coming to the Big House after that. Then, Michigan football will close the season with three of five on the road. There will be trips to Rutgers, Oregon, and Ohio State, as well as home games with Michigan State and UCLA.

Michigan football will need to start fast

With Oregon and Ohio State, on the road, in the final month of the season, the Wolverines need to bank some wins going into November. It's possible a 9-3 record, with losses to Indiana, OSU, and Oregon would still get Michigan in the playoff, depending on the strength of wins over Oklahoma, Penn State, and Iowa.

Yet, winning those games isn't guaranteed. Michigan's coaching staff won't be conceding a thing either. This is going to be maybe the most talented team Kyle Whittingham has ever coached.

Let's see what he does with it, but a 5-0 start heading into the Indiana game would be something.