Way Too Early Michigan Football Opponent Preview: Week 2 vs. Oklahoma

In week two of the regular season, Michigan will host the Oklahoma Sooners. Oklahoma is currently ranked in the top 10 nationally in a lot of the preseason polls so it will be a tough early test for this 2026 Michigan football team. Michigan plays Western Michigan in week one, while Oklahoma gets UTEP, so both teams will get a warm-up game before this big early-season showdown. Let's dive deeper into this matchup below.

2025 Recap

Oklahoma finished 2025 with a 10-3 record overall, including the 24-13 win over Michigan early last year. They did make the college football playoff and lost at home to Alabama by a score of 34-24 in what was their final game of last season.

After John Mateer played Michigan last year he was a Heisman Trophy frontrunner until he suffered a hand injury just a few games later. He ended up struggling to throw the football successfully in the second half of their season, and it really hurt their offensive production overall. Oklahoma struggled mightily to run the football all year, and it put a lot of pressure on Mateer to carry the offense by himself.

Oklahoma's defense, however, was maybe the best defense in college football last season, as they finished 7th nationally in scoring defense, and 6th nationally in total defense. The defense carried the team for most of last season, and with a lot of those same players back this season, it will likely do so again in 2026.

Oklahoma Sooners wide receiver Deion Burks tries to get past Michigan Wolverines defensive back Brandyn Hillman after a reception | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Moves made for 2026

Back is John Mateer to lead Oklahoma's offense, and they've made it an off-season goal of theirs to have a more balanced offense in 2026. Will they be able to do so? Only time will tell, but it's hard to be much worse on the ground than they were last year.

On defense, Brent Venables is still in control, and they bring back breakout pass-rusher Taylor Wein who was second team All-SEC last year as well as David Stone and Jayden Jackson on the interior. Also returning are Oklahoma's leading two tacklers Kip Lewis and Owen Heinecke, as well as three of their top four starters in the secondary in Peyton Bowen, Eli Bowen, and Courtland Guillory. They also brought in former Michigan linebacker Cole Sullivan this off-season. It's not even clear Sullivan will start for the Sooners, showing the embarrassment of riches they appear to have on that side of the ball.

Oklahoma has the look of a very good team yet again in 2026, and should be even better than they were last season. This will be a huge early game for both Michigan and Oklahoma, with the winner being a likely playoff team.

Oklahoma Sooners quarterback John Mateer celebrates after a win over the Michigan Wolverines — Oklahoma Sooners quarterback John Mateer celebrates after a college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners and the University of Michigan Wolverines | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Why Michigan might struggle with the Sooners... again

In my opinion, this is one of those games on Michigan's 2026 schedule that will be very tough to win. It will be Bryce Underwood's second game in the new Jason Beck offense, while Oklahoma brings back John Mateer and might have the best defense in college football this year. It is at home however, so Michigan shouldn't be counted out to win this game.

In fact Fanduel currently has it at a -2.5 point spread in favor of Michigan, so the sportsbooks seem to favor the Wolverines to win this game as of right now. That could easily change before kickoff though on September 12th. Personally I think Oklahoma ends up winning a close game here by a score something close to 24-20, but it will undoubtedly by a huge matchup early on in the Kyle Whittingham Michigan tenure.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.

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