Football season is approaching, coaches' rankings are coming out, recruiting season is heating up, and fall camps will be here for anyone who knows it. With the season inching closer, game times and odds for games are beginning to come out, and for Michigan, not everything has come out the way fans would have wanted it.
The Wolverines are already the underdog against Ohio State, but before Michigan can even begin to think about that game, they have a non-conference slate to get through and then Big Ten play. The non-conference slate isn't a complete walk in the park for the Wolverines, as Oklahoma is sandwiched between two Group of Five teams.
However, game times for these matchups are officially out, and boy, does it make zero sense when looking at when Michigan will be playing.
Wolverines will open the season with a night game against Western Michigan. Night games are always great, but to open the season on a night matchup with a Noon matchup on FOX Big Noon Kickoff a week later against Oklahoma seems like a slap in the face.
Fans were already up in arms about the Noon kickoff vs. Oklahoma, as this matchup deserved to be the night game. Finally, non-conference play will end with a midday game against UTEP at 3:30 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.
Kickoff times for Michigan's non-conference games:
— Clayton Sayfie (@CSayf23) May 27, 2026
Sept. 5 vs. WMU — 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC
Sept. 12 vs. Oklahoma — Noon ET on FOX
Sept. 19 vs. UTEP — 3:30 p.m. ET on BTN
Kyle Whittingham will be tested fast in first season with Michigan
Playing against Group of Five teams in non-conference play is something Michigan head coach Kyle Whittingham is used to, coming from Utah. However, now at Michigan, Whittingham will be expected to do more with more, and he will be tested early in his first season.
Western Michigan and UTEP are the two easiest teams on Michigan's schedule, but there is a game in between those that will have Whittingham needing to be at the top of his game. Michigan is set to play Oklahoma for the second year in a row, this time in The Big House. The game is set for Noon, a horrendous kickoff time, but it was the time they were given.
This won't be a walk-in-the-park non-conference game a lot of teams are used to playing, as this will be a power conference showdown and the first big game for Whittingham in his Michigan era. Last season, when these two teams met, Oklahoma walked away with a convincing win and even went on to be in the College Football Playoff.
The Wolverines went on to make it to a bowl game, but there were quite a few games the Wolverines left on the table. Whittingham will have the chance to avenge that loss and hopefully turn the tables on the Sooners, leading the Wolverines to a win and a College Football Playoff appearance.
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