Joel Klatt on Michigan: 'They’re gonna be back among the elite in college football'

Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt unveiled his preseason top 25 for the 2025 college football season, and Michigan Wolverines football checked in No. 10.

The Maize and Blue stand behind No. 1 Penn State, No. 2 Texas, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 4 Clemson, No. 5 Oregon, No. 6 Notre Dame, No. 7 Georgia, No. 8 LSU and No. 9 Alabama.

Klatt noted that he nearly put Michigan ahead of Alabama at No. 9, since the Wolverines “just beat them in the bowl game.”

“Two years removed from winning a national championship, here are the Michigan Wolverines at No. 10,” Klatt added.

Michigan had one of the best defenses in the country last season — holding Ohio State to 10 points and Alabama to 13 were two of the most impressive performances of the year in the sport — and that unit is expected to be strong once again. The offense was one of the worst in the Power Four, and it’s hard to envision it regressing under first-year coordinator Chip Lindsey, so Klatt is a believer.

“I can’t help myself,” Klatt said of the ranking. “I just love the way that they finished the season. This is a defense that got it going late in the year, even with their star players not playing.

“They cannot be worse on offense than they were a year ago, and you know what? I think they’re gonna be back among the elite in college football.”

Michigan found a formula to win under first-time head coach Sherrone Moore at the end of last season. The Wolverines were 5-5 ahead of their final home game, before ripping off three-straight victories to conclude the year 8-5.

“This team figured things out at the end of the year,” Klatt explained. “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.

“Wink Martindale, their defensive coordinator, figured out what worked with his players as the season went along, 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.”

There are question marks surrounding Michigan’s ability to replace its top-end talent on defense, and how much the offense will improve. Freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood is the favorite to start behind center, but he’ll have to earn that role during fall camp. Improvement at quarterback will go a long way.

“They bring in new offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey,” Klatt said. “I’m interested to see how that works out. I’m not totally sure. Will we see Bryce Underwood at quarterback? Is it gonna be [graduate] 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 gonna have to replace some talented players, in particular on the defensive front seven. But remember, without those players on the defensive front seven and without Will Johnson on the edge [at cornerback], they handled Alabama just fine. And that was an Alabama offense that still had [quarterback Jalen] Milroe, still had [wide receiver] Ryan Williams and was playing at full capacity.”

Not only is Klatt predicting Michigan will be an improved team, but he also believes the schedule shakes out more favorably. The Wolverines face Ohio State but avoid taking on the two other Big Ten teams in his top 10, Penn State and Oregon.

“Michigan should be better,” Klatt said. “Their schedule is not that bad. If you look at that Oklahoma game as really the barometer, they’re gonna go travel to Norman, Oklahoma, and if they win that game, then watch out, this is a CFP team. If not, we’ll see.”

Moore is slated to be suspended for the Central Michigan and Nebraska games Sept. 13 and Sept. 20, respectively, but that’s not official, just a proposed self-imposed punishment by the university. The NCAA may rule something different, which could spur an appeal by Moore and U-M, so there’s still plenty of uncertainty.

“Then the big question mark becomes Sherrone Moore’s suspension,” Klatt said of Michigan. “Right now, he is going to be on a self-imposed suspension for the third and fourth games of the season. Will it be more? Will the NCAA suspend him even further? Possibly. At the time that we’re recording this, that has not happened yet.

“But even if they do, even if it is four like, let’s say, three games, and it’s gotta be the first three, this is a program that has shown that they can get over that. I don’t think that, that is a game-ender for them, to be quite honest with you.”