3 Thoughts on Michigan's Placement on 2026 Preseason Big Ten Football Poll

Cleveland.com came out with its 16th annual preseason poll. Did they get it right?

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For the 16th year in a row, Cleveland.com came out with its preseason Big Ten Football Poll. The Big Ten Conference does not come out with any sort of preseason ranking, so Cleveland.com has taken the duties of doing so, asking a panel of media members to rank the teams, coming up with a consensus list.

Cleveland.com had 31 voters vote on the order of the teams, and it has been the unofficial media for the Big Ten in the last 15 years — going on 16. The poll has picked the Big Ten champion correctly four times from 2011-2025.

Ohio State came in at No. 1, receiving 15 first-place votes. As for Michigan, the Wolverines came in at No. 5 in the preseason poll.

Below is the standings from the preseason poll, along with three thoughts on the Wolverines' ranking.

Rank	Team (1st place votes)	Total Points
No. 1	Ohio State (15)	540
No. 2	Oregon (11)	527
No. 3	Indiana (5)	509
No. 4	USC	446
No. 5	Michigan	430
No. 6	Penn State	380
No. 7	Washington	366
No. 8	Iowa	361
No. 9	Illinois	304
No. 10	Minnesota	268
No. 11	Nebraska	246
No. 12	Wisconsin	207
No. 13	UCLA	199
No. 14	Northwestern	140
No. 15	Maryland	137
No. 16	Michigan State	99
No. 17	Rutgers	97
No. 18	Purdue	45

Can't make too many complaints about Michigan's initial ranking

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After all the offseason turmoil, Sherrone Moore being fired for an inappropriate relationship with a staffer, and Kyle Whittingham coming in to salvage things, there is clearly some belief in the Wolverines entering this season.

No one could argue Michigan should be ranked higher than Ohio State or Oregon, the clear top teams in the Big Ten, or the reigning national champions, Indiana. Even USC, a team that returns the most prolific passer in college football, along with most of his playmakers.

Coming in at No. 5 behind those teams shows voters trust Whittingham and what the potential is in Ann Arbor.

Preseason poll continues to show Michigan has one of the toughest schedules

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Michigan will play games against four of the top six teams this season. And two of those games are on the road. The Wolverines travel to both Oregon and Ohio State in the final three weeks of the regular season.

The Wolverines have home dates with both Indiana and Penn State. Michigan plays just two teams in the bottom five of the conference, playing both Rutgers, at Rutgers, and a home stand with rival Michigan State.

Kyle Whittingham hopes to get Michigan back into the College Football Playoff picture this season, but if he's going to do that, the Wolverines are going to have to earn it.

Michigan will have to quickly hone into the new schemes

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This point correlates to the previous, but Michigan isn't going to have much time to learn the new offense or defense this season. Fall camp is going to be vastly important for the players to learn all the nuance of the new schemes.

The Wolverines have a buy game against Western Michigan, but Michigan has a date with Oklahoma in Week 2 before another buy game against UTSA, before Big Ten begins. The Wolverines have games against Iowa, Minnesota, and Penn State right away, all three teams ranked in the top 10 of the preseason poll.

Michigan is going to be tested early and the Wolverines will have to show they can handle it.