Michigan
Early top targets in 2026 class for Michigan Football
The 2025 recruiting cycle — for the most part, with a few exceptions — is done for the Michigan Wolverines. Of course, there are a few players that have elected to take their recruitments into the February signing day, but that isn’t our main concern for today.
As we wait for them to make up their minds and potentially sign with Michigan, let’s get a jumpstart on the 2026 class. Sherrone Moore and company are shooting for the (five) stars in this class, as the program will go toe-to-toe with some of the best college football programs in the country for top ranked recruits.
Here are some of the early top targets for the Wolverines in 2026. Just as a note — this is in order of position, and is not reflective of every single player they’re recruiting.
Five-star RB Savion Hiter
A top-15 overall player in the class, Hiter is one of Michigan’s top overall targets in the class regardless of position. Tony Alford has already laid the groundwork here and has Michigan in Hiter’s top-five list, along with Georgia, Ohio State, Penn State and Tennessee.
Four-star RB Javion Osborne
If Hiter is 1A at the running back position for Michigan, Osborne is 1B. A top-100 player in his own right, Osborne is from Forney, Texas, and is a dynamic player at 5-foot-10, 195 pounds. He has been VERY pro-Michigan as of late, so it wouldn’t stun me in the slightest if the Wolverines led for him and eventually pulled him out of the Longhorn State.
Four-star WR Mason James
A Norman, Oklahoma native, James is no lock to commit to the hometown Sooners by any stretch. He has a ton of other good programs (Michigan, Alabama, Penn State, Tennessee, Texas A&M, etc.) on his coattails. He visited Ann Arbor for the MSU game in October, where he called Michigan “one of my top schools.”
Four-star TE Brock Harris
A borderline five-star, the Saint George, Utah native is among the best at his position in the class. He recently visited Ann Arbor for the Oregon game, and made other trips this fall to Utah, BYU and Georgia. He also put Michigan in his top-six list earlier this week, along with Oregon, Miami, Georgia, Utah and BYU.
Four-star TE Matt Ludwig
Despite Harris being ranked much higher, Ludwig may actually be higher on Michigan’s board at the tight end position. The Billings, Montana native visited Michigan for the MSU game in October. He holds other offers from Georgia, Tennessee, LSU, Wisconsin and more.
Five-star OL Immanuel Iheanacho
Everyone is going to shoot their shot for the No. 2 overall player in the country in Iheanacho. The towering 6-foot-6.5, 345-pounder from Rockville, Maryland is relatively new to football, but has sky high potential.
Four-star OL Leo Delaney
A former high school teammate of current Wolverines Jadyn Davis and Channing Goodwin, Delaney could be the next Providence Day kid to take his talents to Michigan. At 6-foot-6 and 280 pounds, Delaney has position flexibility and could play pretty much anywhere along the line. The top-100 overall prospect visited for the MSU game and holds other offers from Clemson, USC, Tennessee, Ole Miss and more.
Four-star OL Gregory Patrick
Finally, an in-state prospect! Patrick hails from Portage, Michigan and is a top-150 overall recruit. Michigan is recruiting him hard, but so are the Michigan State Spartans. At 6-foot-4.5 and 275 pounds, Patrick projects to the interior at the college level. He’s got other offers from Alabama, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Washington, Wisconsin and more.
Four-star OL Malakai Lee
Michigan already holds a Crystal Ball to eventually land Lee, who may be one of the Wolverines’ top targets at the position. At 6-foot-6 and 318 pounds, the top-150 overall player is an absolute monster and can play pretty much anywhere along the line. Alabama, Georgia, Oregon, USC, Texas and more college football powerhouses are also after Lee.
Four-star edge Anthony Jones
Not much has been said about Jones, but he did include Michigan in his top-five list along with Tennessee, UCLA, Washington and Arizona State. He told 247Sports earlier this year that the Volunteers are his top team, but the Wolverines will still shoot their shot with Irvine, California native.
Four-star edge Luke Wafle
The younger brother of current Michigan defensive lineman Owen Wafle, Luke is a highly regarded prospect in his own right at 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds. Georgia, Ohio State, Penn State, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and others have also offered him.
Four-star LB Cam Thomas
Despite wearing an Ohio State jacket in his recruiting profile, Thomas actually left the Buckeyes off his top-six list and, instead, included Michigan, Oregon, Indiana, West Virginia, Illinois and Kentucky. The West Chester, Ohio native is a top-300 overall player and appears to be one of Brian Jean-Mary’s top guys early on in this cycle.
Five-star CB Elbert Hill
Hill is the No. 1 ranked cornerback in the class and visited Michigan earlier this year for the Northwestern game. The only unfortunate thing about this recruitment is Hill is from Akron, Ohio and is a huge OSU lean at the moment. Michigan will give it all its got, but I don’t see this one ending well.
Four-star CB Victor Singleton
Another Ohio cornerback at the top of Michigan’s board, Singleton hails from the friendly Buckeye State city of Toledo. He visited Ann Arbor multiple times this season and has a strong relationship with LaMar Morgan. If any school is going to pull him away from OSU, it’s probably Michigan.
Four-star ATH CJ Sadler
Another highly regarded in-state prospect, Sadler is a versatile two-way player who excels at defensive back and wide receiver. The Cass Tech high schooler also holds offers from Alabama, Florida, Penn State, Oregon, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Miami, LSU and more.
Other names to know
Michigan
Game 17: Michigan at Minnesota Recap | UM Hoops.com
How does an undefeated Big Ten team lose to a winless one? It fails to do what the things it has done well all season.
The one thing that has defined Michigan throughout the season is its ability to create shots in the paint and score at the rim. The Wolverines led the country in 2-point shooting at well over 60%, and their twin-tower lineup of 7-footers produces shots at the rim in volume.
Those shots didn’t go in on Thursday night in Minneapolis, and Michigan left with a shock overtime defeat to the Big Ten’s worst team.
Michigan made just 12 of 31 shots around the rim. Their 43% 2-point shooting was the worst of the season, and it was Minnesota’s best 2-point defensive performance against a high-major team. The increasingly automatic Vlad Goldin shot just 4-of-13 inside the arc and missed all five field goal attempts in the second half. He missed as many shots inside the arc on Thursday night as he had in Michigan’s recent five-game winning streak total.
It was one of those nights in a sport famous for those nights. And after a worst-of-the-year-by-far shooting performance at the rim and a poor defensive effort, it still took a Dawson Garcia buzzer-beater from near midcourt to settle the final score in overtime.
Michigan
Dangerously cold wind chills for Michigan; Here’s timeline
Arctic air is going to move into Michigan early next week. The cold air will come with some wind, making dangerously cold wind chills.
The Arctic air will be steadily infiltrating Michigan’s air Sunday and Monday with the coldest temperatures Tuesday and early Wednesday morning.
Actual temperatures will plunge to five below zero to 15 below zero for most of us in Michigan. The wind won’t be extremely strong but strong enough to send wind chills much lower than the actual temperature.
Here is the wind chill forecast from Sunday evening to Wednesday afternoon.
Now here is the wind chill forecast for some key time periods.
Just below is the look at Tuesday morning. The wind chills will range between -15 and -25 degrees across Lower Michigan. The Upper Peninsula could have wind chills as low as -40 degrees.
Wednesday morning could actually have the lowest wind chills over southeast Lower Michigan. The cold air will still be in place and the winds will be picking up.
If you live in southeast Michigan here’s a breakdown of the wind chills.
It doesn’t really matter where you live Monday through Wednesday. We will all have dangerously cold wind chills. You will only want to be outside for just a few minutes to get from one building to the next.
Michigan
Root for a rival? Michigan fans in a quandary as Ohio State, Notre Dame clash
Last season, Michigan football fans were cheering for the Wolverines in the national championship. This year, they’ll have to choose between two of their rivals.
It’s an unfortunate position, but some Michigan fans see a silver lining when Ohio State faces Notre Dame in Monday night’s championship game.
What almost all of them seem to agree on is which school they’d rather see win. A poll this writer posted on social media this week asking that question received more than 1,000 votes. More than 95 percent of people chose Notre Dame.
“I have never, never wanted Ohio State to win any game, no matter who they’re up against,” said Joe Fowler, who held Michigan football season tickets for more than 50 years.
It’s a sentiment shared by nearly all Michigan fans, several of whom claimed (in replies to the poll) that no self-respecting Wolverine devotee could ever pull for Ohio State. The Buckeyes are, unquestionably, Michigan’s top rival. Michigan State is next, at least currently, followed by Notre Dame.
Michigan and Notre Dame last played each other in 2019, a 45-14 Michigan win in Ann Arbor. That same day, Michigan announced the series would return with matchups in 2033 and 2034. The lack of recent games between the programs has only cooled a rivalry that already trailed Michigan-Ohio State in intensity.
As one Michigan fan wrote: “We dislike Notre Dame but hate Ohio (State).”
Don Svenson, an usher at various Michigan sporting events, doesn’t care for either team and may stick with a previous engagement instead of watching the game. He’ll be rooting for the Fighting Irish.
“Their football program is as storied as Michigan’s,” he said. “Also the more that I learn about Marcus Freeman, I see that he is more of a class act as opposed to Ryan Day.”
Several fans mentioned their preference for Freeman, Notre Dame’s third-year coach, over Day, who’s bothered Michigan fans with his comments and behavior since becoming Ohio State’s coach in 2019.
Many fans said they wished both teams could lose, with one saying it was like choosing between moldy cheese and rotten meat.
Notre Dame overcame a stunning loss to Northern Illinois to qualify for the inaugural 12-team playoff. Ohio State lost two regular-season games, including as a 20-point favorite at home against Michigan. Notre Dame and Ohio State each won three playoff games to reach the championship. Michigan went 15-0 last season to capture the trophy in what was the final season of the four-team playoff.
“The good news about (Monday’s) game is that no matter who wins, Michigan still has its national championship and a head-to-head win over the team in their previous meeting,” Michigan super fan Don Thomas said.
“And no matter who loses you get to laugh at ‘em. If Notre Dame loses, you can say they haven’t won (a national championship) since before the fall of the Berlin Wall. And if Ohio State loses, it’s, ‘All that (NIL) money and you couldn’t win a natty.’ Honestly, it’s the best of both worlds.”
For some Michigan fans, their rooting interest on Monday could be affected by where they live or the fandom of their friends or family. Generally speaking, Notre Dame is considered “the lesser of two evils,” as one Michigan fan put it.
Michigan’s 13-10 win over Ohio State on Nov. 30, the Wolverines’ fourth straight win in the series, naturally looms large for Michigan fans.
One such fan was clever to reference certain t-shirts and posters and other commemorative items that will be produced for the national champion.
“I don’t like the possibility of an OSU win,” he wrote, “but the idea that they’ll print the season schedule that ends with a natty but has to still show that UGLY loss to Michigan makes me smile.”
- BETTING: Check out our guide to the best Michigan sportsbooks, where our team of sports betting experts has reviewed the experience, payout speed, parlay options and quality of odds for multiple sportsbooks.
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