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Michigan

Wolverines · Big Ten

Head coach Kyle Whittingham Year 1 with Michigan

Year-1 HCs (2015-2024) averaged -0.19 W vs. preseason expectation

Season Projection · 2026 W0

10,000 sims
6.7
Expected wins
7-5
Proj record
4 to 10
Win range (90%)
#32 (15–53)
Final rank (90%)
2%
Make playoff
1%
Win conference

Path to Glory

Tap a win or a loss on each pivotal game to see how the playoff probability shifts. Leave any game unset to average across both outcomes.

Make the playoff

2%

Baseline projection.

  • vs Indiana
    Home · Oct 24
  • vs Penn State
    Home · Oct 17
  • vs Oklahoma
    Home · Sep 12
  • vs Iowa
    Home · Sep 26
  • at Minnesota
    Away · Oct 3

Pivotal games are the 5 with the largest playoff-probability swing, ranked by the model. Math: chained Bayesian log-odds update from the conditional simulation set; gets the directionally right answer but won't perfectly capture cross-game correlations until the full Monte Carlo pipeline lands.

Returning production · 2026

74 score
  • Quarterback 100% (4/6 )
  • Offensive line 84% (16/19 players)
  • Skill (RB/WR/TE) 57% (26/33 )
  • Front 7 (DL/LB) 40% (24/32 )
  • Secondary 55% (15/21 )
  • Special teams 79% (6/8 )

Share of last season's production each unit returns. Higher means more continuity: 70%+ is healthy, 45–70% a normal rebuild, under 45% a major turnover.

Portal additions · 2026

+0.8 rating

16 proven transfers in, carrying the production below from their prior school.

  • John Henry Daley DE ← Utah 284 impact
  • Chris Bracy S ← Memphis 170 impact
  • JJ Buchanan WR ← Utah 168 impact
  • Smith Snowden CB ← Utah 117 impact
  • Jonah Lea'ea DT ← Utah 66 impact
  • Nathaniel Staehling LB ← North Dakota State 37 impact

Impact scores offensive skill additions (QB/RB/WR/TE) — prior-season production normalized within position (100 ≈ a 90th-percentile producer at that spot) and discounted for non-FBS competition, so a top back counts alongside a top quarterback. Defensive and O-line additions count as transfers but aren't box-score measurable, so they carry no impact score. The rating figure is this class's portal contribution vs. the FBS average, capped at ±2.5.

Situational efficiency · 2025

FBS percentile rank
  • 3rd-down conversion 42.5% 83th — strong
  • Red-zone TD rate 16.4% 68th — average
  • 4th-down aggression 30.4% 22th — bottom tier
  • Late & close 4.3 yds/play 27th — below avg

Percentile is across all FBS teams with play-by-play data for the season. "Late & close" is yards per play in Q4+ with a one-score margin — a proxy for clutch offensive performance.

Schedule

Full 2026 slate. Tap a row for the matchup breakdown.

Latest Stories

  • Recap

    Michigan: 2025 Week 16 recap

    Michigan sits at No. 25 in the latest GIE ratings after a 27–9 home loss to Ohio State in Week 14—a decisive defeat that underscored the gap between the Wolverines and their conference rival. At 9–4, Michigan has work to do to salvage…

More coming

Per-team pages get the full treatment in Phase 3: current rating, season projection histogram, schedule with win probabilities, and live overlays on Pylon stream days. For now, this page exists so stories and news have a permanent home as content rolls in.