Michigan
New bowl projections have Michigan in play at four different sites
Michigan clinched bowl eligibility by landing its sixth win of the season over the weekend, a 50-6 beat down of lowly Northwestern.
And while all eyes are on the rivalry game against Ohio State this Saturday (Noon, FOX), the postseason is fast approaching. In 13 days, the Wolverines will learn of their bowl draw. It won’t be a high-profile game like years past, but several intriguing sites remain a possibility for Sherrone Moore’s team.
The most popular pick this week is the Music City Bowl in Nashville, set for Dec. 30 at Nissan Stadium. It would mark Michigan’s first-ever appearance in the game and pit the Wolverines against an SEC school.
ESPN’s Mark Schlabach has Michigan playing Ole Miss in the Music City Bowl, CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm predicts a Michigan-Missouri matchup in Nashville, while USA Today’s Erick Smith projects the Wolverines to play Texas A&M. All three SEC schools have been in the playoff picture this year, setting the stage for an intriguing neutral-site game.
Three other national writers have Michigan playing in three different bowl games. ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura predicts a Michigan-Syracuse matchup in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl on Jan. 3 in Charlotte. The Action Network’s Brett McMurphy, whose track-record projecting bowl sites and matchups is among the best, has the Wolverines playing Pittsburgh in the Pinstripe Bowl on Dec. 28 at Yankee Stadium in New York. And in an interesting outlier, The Sporting News’ Bill Bender projects a Michigan-Texas A&M matchup in the Dec. 31 ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa, Fla.
How the top of the Big Ten fares when it comes to the 12-team playoff matters here. Getting four teams in like some are projecting would help Michigan’s standing in the bowl selection process. But if one of those teams gets left out (looking at you, Indiana), it would almost certainly kill any chance of returning to Florida.
After the playoff bids are doled out, the Citrus Bowl has the first pick of the remaining bowl-eligible Big Ten teams, followed by the ReliaQuest Bowl (former Outback Bowl). An 8 or 9-win Illinois would likely be the next Big Ten team off the board, followed by a 7 or 8-win Iowa. After that, though, is anyone’s guess.
And what if Michigan pulls off the upset in Columbus and gets to seven wins? It could suddenly move the Wolverines up the pecking order and give the ReliaQuest Bowl a reason to pick them, provided that Indiana does make the playoff.
This week will help offer some clarity with the Big Ten standings. There’s also a possibility of college football having too many bowl eligible teams this year. And while that certainly won’t affect Michigan — its brand and following are too large to keep out, even at 6-6 — but could limit the number of secondary bowls available to the Big Ten.
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In a game Michigan had to have by any means, it found a way. The Wolverines trailed for over 36 minutes at home on Tuesday night, gave up 50 points in the first half, and made just one of their final 15 3-point attempts. Somehow, Michigan won anyway, knocking off No. 5 Nebraska to keep its Big Ten title hopes healthy.
The Wolverines survived the barrage of early threes and outlasted the undermanned Huskers, recording stops on eight of the final nine possessions of the game to pull away with a game-winning 6-0 run down the stretch.
Writing this recap, I can’t help but feel like I’m on the other side of a script that I’ve written routinely on this site over the years. We’ve all seen this story before: a five-out team spreads out a bigger, more talented team and makes them look like they’ve never played basketball before with a barrage of threes and cutting layups.
In the end, the threes go cold, and the bigger team wins the game by overwhelming its opponent in areas that are impossible to outscheme: offensive rebounds, defense, and free throws.
When John Beilein’s teams lost, this is usually what it looked like. Tonight, Michigan wore the other shoe.
Nebraska played the better game, but Michigan was the bigger, deeper, and more talented team. The Wolverines went to the free-throw line 23 times, knocking down 14 of 17 in the second half, and scored 14 of their 27 second-half points on second-chance opportunities to escape with the crucial home win.
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Michigan
Michigan football releases 2026 schedule for first season under head coach Kyle Whittingham
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The University of Michigan Athletic Department and the Big Ten Conference announced the 2026 football schedule for the first season under new head coach Kyle Whittingham and his Michigan Wolverines.
The schedule, which features eight home games, including all four in September, was announced on Tuesday (Jan. 27).
Michigan will kick off its 147th football season with three non-conference home games: Western Michigan on Sept. 5, Oklahoma on Sept. 12, and UTEP on Sept. 19.
Following these, the Wolverines will begin their nine-game Big Ten schedule.
The conference opener will be at home against Iowa on Sept. 26, marking Michigan’s 120th Big Ten conference opener at Michigan Stadium.
Michigan’s first road game of the season will be Oct. 3 at Minnesota’s Huntington Bank Stadium.
The Wolverines and Golden Gophers will compete for the Little Brown Jug, college football’s oldest trophy, in the 100th meeting of this historic rivalry.
Michigan holds a commanding 74-23-2 record in the previous 99 contests.
After a bye week, Michigan returns home for back-to-back games against Penn State on Oct. 17 and defending national champion Indiana on Oct. 24.
The Wolverines will then travel to Rutgers for an Oct. 31 game.
The annual rivalry game against Michigan State has been pushed back a week and will take place Nov. 7 at Michigan Stadium.
The two teams will battle for the Paul Bunyan Trophy in the 74th meeting of this series.
Michigan leads the series 42-29-2 and holds a 75-38-5 advantage overall in the rivalry, which dates back to 1898.
The Wolverines will then travel to Eugene, Oregon, for their first matchup against the Ducks as conference opponents on Nov. 14 at Autzen Stadium.
A week later, the Wolverines will host new Big Ten opponent UCLA at Michigan Stadium on Nov. 21.
The regular season will conclude with the 122nd meeting of “The Game” against Ohio State on Nov. 28 at Ohio Stadium.
Michigan has won its last two trips to Columbus, 45-23 in 2022 and 13-10 in 2024, and holds a 62-53-6 advantage in the all-time series.
| Date | Opponent |
|---|---|
| Sept. 5 | Western Michigan |
| Sept. 12 | Oklahoma Sooners |
| Sept. 19 | UTEP |
| Sept 26 | Iowa Hawkeyes |
| Oct. 3 | at Minnesota Golden Gophers |
| Oct. 10 | BYE |
| Oct. 17 | Penn State Nitanny Lions |
| Oct. 24 | Indiana Hoosiers |
| Oct. 31 | at Rutgers Scarlett Knights |
| Nov. 7 | Michigan State |
| Nov. 14 | at Oregon Ducks |
| Nov. 21 | UCLA Bruins |
| Nov. 28 | at Ohio State Buckeyes |
Copyright 2026 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit – All rights reserved.
Michigan
Michigan student who left frat party in just T-shirt and jeans found dead in ‘extreme cold’
A missing University of Michigan student has been found dead more than a day after he was last seen leaving a fraternity party in just a T-shirt and jeans in bone-chilling storm temperatures, according to police.
Engineering student Lucas Mattson, 19, was last seen walking without a jacket at around 1 a.m. Friday, as temperatures plummeted as low as 0 degrees, WILX reported.
His body was found Saturday night following a 20-hour search in “extreme cold conditions,” police said.
Mattson is one of at least 34 to die from Winter Storm Fern, which impacted more than two-thirds of all Americans.
“At this time, we can share that prior to disappearing, Lucas was attending a party at a fraternity house as a guest; he was neither a member nor a pledge,” University of Michigan interim president Domenico Grasso said in a statement, warning against “misinformation” spreading about his death around the school community.
“We must let the investigators complete their work and refrain from speculation until the facts are known.”
Mattson was reported missing at 4:30 p.m. Friday, according to the Ann Arbor Police Department. Officers spent the whole night searching but were unable to find him.
His body was later located Saturday night on Cambridge Road, cops said.
“The nearly 20-hour search effort to locate him took place in extreme cold conditions and included officers from AAPD and University of Michigan Division of Public Safety and Security, as well as the University of Michigan Police Department Drone Unit,” police said in a press release.
There were no signs of trauma and foul play is not suspected at this time, cops said.
The Washtenaw County Medical Examiner’s office will conduct an autopsy to determine the cause of death, police said.
Grasso said he’s asked school officials to retrace the events of the night Mattson disappeared “to better understand what transpired and identify possible steps to help prevent similar tragedies in the future.”
“I am grateful for the outpouring of support from so many people worried about Lucas’s welfare, including those who searched for him in extremely difficult weather conditions,” the university president said.
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