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FOX Sports' Joel Klatt ranks Michigan football as a preseason top-10 team in 2025

Originally posted on Michigan Wolverines on SI
By Trent Knoop | Last updated Aug 4, 2025 10:58 AM ET

College football starts in a few weeks with Week 0 kicking off on August 23 -- with Michigan football kicking off one week later. The Wolverines are expected to do big things this season with new offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey, QB Bryce Underwood, and plenty of returning starters on the defensive side of the football.

On Monday, FOX Sports' analyst Joel Klatt came out with his preseason top 25 -- the official AP Top 25 comes out next Monday -- and Klatt has the Wolverines as a top-10 team in the country. Someone who follows Michigan closely, Klatt ranked Michigan as his preseason No. 10 team.

"And you know what? I think they're going to be back among the elite and college football, two years removed from winning a national championship. Here's the Michigan Wolverines at number 10," Klatt said on his podcast.

"This team figured things out at the end of the year. They beat Ohio State. They beat Alabama basically without an offense. And they did it with an offense that threw the ball better than only three teams in the country. And all three of those teams were service academies. There's no way they can be that bad throwing the ball again."

Despite interest from NFL teams, Wink Martindale chose to remain with the Wolverines for his second year with the program. Klatt notes that the Wolverines were one of the best defensive teams in the country last year -- in the back half of the year. Klatt's only question remains on the offensive side of the ball. Who starts at QB, and how does Lindsey do as the OC?

"Wink Martindale, their defensive coordinator, he figured out what worked with his players as the season went along," Klatt said. "And they became in the back half of the year, and in particular over the last four games, the best defense in the country. That should continue.

"They bring in new offensive coordinator, Chip Lindsey. I'm interested to see how that works out. I'm not totally sure. Will we see Bryce Underwood at quarterback? Is it going to be Mikey Keene, the Fresno transfer? He missed all of spring practice with an injury, so Underwood got all of those reps. Keene does have experience, by the way. 34 career starts. He played in Lindsey's offense at UCF.

“I know they're going to have to replace some really talented players, in particular on the defensive front seven. But remember, without those players on the defensive front seven, without Will Johnson on the edge, they handled Alabama just fine. And that was an Alabama offense that still had Milroe, that still had Ryan Williams and was playing at full capacity. Michigan should be better. Their schedule is not that bad. And if you look at that Oklahoma game is really the barometer.”

Klatt has the Oklahoma game circled on the calendar for Michigan. If the Wolverines can win that big Week 2 game, then he believes Michigan is a College Football Playoff team in 2025. But, he is always waiting word on the NCAA's decision on head coach Sherrone Moore -- stemming from the Connor Stalions' scandal in 2023.

“They're going to go travel to Norman, Oklahoma. And if they win that game, then watch out. This is a CFP team. If not, we'll see. Then the big question mark becomes Sherrone Moore's suspension. Right now, he is going to be on a self-imposed suspension for the third and fourth game of the season.”

This article first appeared on Michigan Wolverines on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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