The wider view
Michigan is 19th, and the team it beat to get there is 24th
Michigan returned to the AP Top 25 at 19th with 382 points, having gone 2-0 with a win over then-11th Oklahoma. It was 16th with 718 points in the preseason ballot, so the same voters now give it 53% of the support it carried in August. Oklahoma dropped 13 places to 24th, which lowers the value of the only ranked win Michigan owns. The schedule ahead moved further than Michigan did: Ohio State lost 24-23 at Texas and fell from 1st to 6th, Oregon lost 39-31 at Oklahoma State and fell from 6th to 21st, and Minnesota lost 38-13 at home to Mississippi State. The five ranked teams left on Michigan's schedule were worth 5,524 AP points last week and are worth 4,280 now, a loss of 1,244 points in a week Michigan played none of them. Ohio State sits 6th at 1-1, ahead of 16 teams ranked below it that have not lost. There is no College Football Playoff ranking until November. Michigan hosts UTEP on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Eastern on Big Ten Network, with Evan Link and Carter Meadows both expected back and Andrew Babalola out.
Wes Ferry·Sep 16, 2026·5 min readRead