Joel Klatt Names the Big Ten Team to Watch Out for in 2025

Originally posted on Athlon Sports
By Rowan Fisher-Shotton | Last updated Jul 21, 2025 4:22 PM ET

As the Michigan Wolverines closed out last season with a hard-fought 19-13 win over Alabama in the ReliaQuest Bowl, they left Ann Arbor with an 8-5 record and a stingy defense that carried them through the season’s toughest stretch.

Michigan shuffled through early setbacks, including a 31-12 loss to Texas, back-to-back defeats at Washington and Illinois and a 38-17 home loss to Oregon, only to finish on a three-game winning streak.

Over the last four weeks of the season, the defense ranked first nationally in both scoring defense and total defense, yielding just two touchdowns over its last three and a half games against ranked foes Ohio State (No. 2), Indiana (No. 8) and Alabama (No. 11).

On Monday, Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt weighed in on Michigan’s 2025 college football season outlook during "The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast."

Klatt noted that of the teams outside last season’s playoff field, Michigan’s late-season run was "easily the best," spotlighting the defense’s lockdown performances in wins over Ohio State and Alabama despite combining for just 32 points offensively.

He emphasized that "this was an eight-win team with an offense that couldn’t throw the ball at all," and predicted a dramatic swing if a newcomer could provide even modest passing production.

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Despite the defensive turnaround, offensive struggles loomed large for the Wolverines in 2024.

Quarterback Davis Warren logged 1,199 passing yards but threw only seven touchdowns to nine interceptions and the unit averaged a modest 22.0 points per game.

Before the end of last season, however, Michigan found a true solution at quarterback, securing the nation’s top recruit in Bryce Underwood, who flipped his commitment from LSU and signed with the Wolverines on Dec. 4.

The 6-foot-4, 208-pound signal-caller was a four-year starter at Belleville High School in Detroit, Michigan, piling up a 50-4 record over four years, 12,919 career all-purpose yards, 152 touchdown passes and back-to-back state titles.

Michigan opens at home on Aug. 30 against New Mexico, then faces its marquee nonconference test at Oklahoma on September 6.

Citing early matchups, Klatt added that "If they beat Oklahoma, nothing looks daunting on the schedule," from Nebraska and USC to Washington and that season-ender against Ohio State.

Klatt concluded, "Watch out for Michigan…this is a bounce-back year. Michigan is a buy."

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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