Top football analyst believes Michigan football is a playoff team in 2025

One of college football's top analysts believes the 2025 version of Michigan football will be a College Football Playoff team.

Phil Steele, who is nationally known as one of the top analysts in the country, revealed his final rankings heading into the 2025 season in his annual, detailed college football preview magazine, with the Wolverines checking in at No. 10

The teams coming in ahead of Michigan were Penn State at No. 1, Clemson at No. 2, Notre Dame at No. 3, Texas at No. 4, Ohio State at No. 5, Georgia at No. 6, Alabama at No. 7, Oregon at No. 8, and Oklahoma at No. 9

If those rankings proved to come to fruition by season's end, the Wolverines would be facing what has become a familiar opponent in the Crimson Tide, with Michigan winning the past two meetings with a 27-20 victory in the Rose Bowl to begin 2024, followed by a 19-13 victory over Alabama to end the year in the ReliaQuest Bowl.

While Steele's ranking for Michigan might be a little higher than what many analysts have them at, there has been consistent thought that the Wolverines should be at least contending for a playoff spot in 2025.

Despite losing some key pieces on both sides of the ball from last season's team, the Wolverines will likely turn to true freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood to give some life to the passing game, which was nonexistent in 2024. With the additions of receiver Donaven McCulley and the duo of running backs Justice Haynes and Jordan Marshall, the Wolverines should be able to get back to at least being efficient on the offensive side of the ball as long as the offensive line takes a step forward.

On defense, losing Mason Graham, Kenneth Grant and Will Johnson is never ideal, but safety Rod Moore returns from injury to boost the secondary, while pass rushers Derrick Moore and T.J. Guy showed tremendous growth last season and should be ready for breakout years this fall.

Combine those elements with depth and experience at the defensive tackle and linebacker positions, and Wink Martindale's defense has the ability to be one of the nation's best.