The Michigan Wolverines entered the season ranked No. 16 overall and had what seemed like an easy game against Western Michigan to open the new campaign.
What seemed easy turned into a battle and ultimately a controversial win for the Wolverines. It took the team until the final play of the game to pull ahead with a Hail Mary touchdown that came after the referees added one final second to the clock.
The additional second became the main talking point of the season’s first weekend and it appears many in the college football world are taking the controversy into account when ranking this Michigan team.
Michigan Suffers Mighty Fall in AP Top 25
The Associated Press dropped the Week 2 rankings and Michigan is nowhere to be found. The team has fallen out of the Top 25 and was not even the first team out. Boise State and Florida both ranked ahead of the Wolverines even after the team’s Week 1 win.
This reflects how Michigan looked Saturday night against WMU. The team trailed 12-7 until the final play and quarterback Bryce Underwood looked like he was in danger of losing his job. Even with the Hail Mary he only finished 12/22 for 170 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
Voters clearly took all the factors into account and didn’t just focus on the fact Michigan technically pulled out the win.
Wolverines Have a Chance to Get Back into Top 25
This drop should serve as a major wake-up call to Kyle Whittingham’s team. The good news is Michigan has a chance to get right back into the Top 25 with a Week 2 win.
No. 11 Oklahoma is coming to Ann Arbor this week and a Michigan win would surely vault the team back into the rankings. A loss meanwhile, would continue the team’s slide and make it that much harder to get ranked anytime soon.
The game will be a rematch from the 2025 matchup in which the Sooners won at home by a final score of 24-13. Underwood went a dismal 9/24 for 142 yards and no touchdowns in the loss. Such a performance this time around could cost the highly-paid quarterback his starting job.
Whittingham already said this week that Underwood is the starter “for now” and that his position as QB1 is not “infinite.” That represents the opposite of a ringing endorsement for a player who showed up to the program with a great deal of hype.
True freshman Tommy Carr is waiting as the backup and could be called upon Saturday if Underwood struggles from the start.
Being unranked in Week 2 is not at all where Michigan expected to be. It’s up to the team to now regroup and take down Oklahoma to get the title hopes back on track.
Michigan Plummets in Latest AP Top 25