Michigan football beat Wisconsin on Saturday and did more than improve its record to 4-1. It was also a key recruiting weekend with a number of top targets from the 2026 and 2027 classes on campus.
One of the players on campus is one of the top recruits from the state of Michigan in the 2027 class, Recarder Kitchen. The 6-foot-5, 240-pound defensive end from Muskegon, Michigan, is ranked as the No. 2 recruit in the 2027 class in the state of Michigan. Among EDGE players, he's ranked 17th nationally and is also No. 111 overall, according to the Rivals Industry Rankings.
Steve Wiltfong of Rivals and EJ Holland of The Wolverine have projected Kitchen to commit to the Wolverines. That gives Michigan football a 97-percent chance to land a prospect who is ranked in the top 126 by Rivals, 247 Sports, and ESPN.
Michigan football bowl projections after Wisconsin win
As far as the bowl projections, Michigan football is on the cusp of the playoff. Bryan Fischer of Sports Illustrated has the Wolverines in the 12-team field. Every other outlet has Michigan in the Citrus Bowl or the ReliaQuest Bowl. That's except for College Football News, which projects the Wolverines to the Las Vegas Bowl.
The Michigan Wolverines are in a great position to crash the playoff. If Michigan can beat USC on Satruday, the Wolverines should be favored in every game leading up to Ohio State.
A win would be a huge step toward the playoff dream becoming a reality. However, winning on the road against USC won't be an easy task.
USC favored to beat Michigan
Big Ten teams have struggled when they have had to travel across country. We saw that with Penn State last weekend, although that's not an excuse.
Vegas oddsmakers have given USC the edge, though, in the matchup of 4-1 teams. The Trojans defense has question marks. But the offense is incredible.
Bryce Underwood needs to be on point. Michigan needs to own the trenches, and Wink needs to have a good night. As it stands, the Trojans are 2.5-point favorites.