Michigan won’t be one of the favorites to win the Big Ten heading into the 2025 football season, but that doesn’t mean it can’t happen. Here are five reasons the Wolverines can win the conference this year:
The Big Ten expanded to 18 teams last year and introduced a new rule to determine the participants in the conference championship game. Rather than sending the leaders of the two divisions, the two teams with the best conference records advance to the title game, a move that ultimately helped produce a more competitive matchup in 2024 and hopefully will continue to do so.
Despite this, it does make it harder for any given team to land a berth in the game to begin with. Just last year we saw Ohio State (who had a 10-2 regular season record) and Indiana (11-1) left out thanks to there being such a slim margin for error.
As we enter the 2025 season, the Michigan Wolverines are a competitor for a fourth Big Ten title in five seasons, but they aren’t likely to be favored over the likes of Oregon, Penn State and Ohio State. However, it’s not impossible for Michigan to win the conference’s top prize again.
Here are five reasons why the Wolverines can win the Big Ten this year.
Favorable conference schedule on paper
While our opinion on Michigan’s schedule can change for better or worse as the season progresses, as it stands right now, the Wolverines have a pretty favorable draw in terms of their conference schedule. Michigan will play nine Big Ten opponents and avoids two of the conference’s top dogs in Oregon and Penn State. Furthermore, Michigan avoids Indiana and Illinois, who defeated Michigan on their home fields last year.
Instead of those opponents, Michigan has a handful of favorable matchups heading into the year. Michigan will play against Michigan State , Purdue, Northwestern and Maryland in consecutive games. There are road matchups with Nebraska and USC as well, which could be tough, but those teams did struggle mightily a year ago. Michigan gets Wisconsin and Washington at home, two teams that could be pesky, but the Wolverines should benefit from home field advantage.
Ohio State will be a tough matchup for sure, but the Wolverines do get the Buckeyes at home as well. Still, even with a loss here, Michigan could make the conference title game with a lone blemish on its record.
Tough paths for other top competitors
As previously mentioned, Michigan will face an uphill battle to make the conference title game thanks to a handful of other programs that could make a push like Penn State, Oregon and Ohio State. However, these teams have some flaws of their own that could stand in their way of competing for conference championships.
For Ohio State and Oregon, they’ll both be relying on a host of new starters on both sides of the ball, including a new starting quarterback. They both have tough schedules, too, as Oregon plays Indiana and travels to both Washington and Penn State. Meanwhile, Ohio State goes to Illinois, Washington and Wisconsin, and hosts Penn State.
Penn State will play Indiana, Oregon, and Ohio State as well. Perhaps the top dogs beating each other up will pave the way for Michigan to reach Indianapolis.
Michigan returning to its identity
In 2024, Michigan’s defense looked like its old self for only half the season, while the offense was enigmatic from start to finish. In 2025, Sherrone Moore should have his team poised to right the ship and look more like the Michigan of 2021-23.
On offense, the Wolverines are looking to create more explosiveness between the arrival of offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey and quarterbacks Bryce Underwood and Mikey Keene. A pair of talented running backs in Justice Haynes and Jordan Marshall, and a more experienced offensive line will look to get the Wolverines back to their dominant ways on the ground.
Defensively, the Wolverines are banking on newfound depth along the defensive line and in the secondary. Although Mason Graham, Kenneth Grant and Will Johnson will be hard to replace, the Wolverines will look to do so in the aggregate with newcomers at defensive tackle and corner. Furthermore, with Wink Martindale back, the defense will be under solid leadership as the second-year coordinator looks to continue the momentum he built at the end of 2024.
Talented underclassmen that can make a difference
If there’s any uncertainty about Michigan in 2025, it’s likely due to the fact the Wolverines will still feature plenty of talented, albeit inexperienced players. However, just because we haven’t seen players produce yet in their college careers doesn’t mean it’s impossible. I’m not saying Michigan has been gatekeeping a true freshman like Jeremiah Smith or Ryan Williams on its roster in 2025, but the possibility for unknown players to make a difference is still there.
Looking at the offense, Underwood is the obvious candidate. He could start all 12 games, but he could play a similar role to J.J. McCarthy in 2021. Sophomores like Marshall, Hogan Hansen and Andrew Sprague could have breakout seasons, while freshman Andrew Marsh could emerge as a big-time option at wide receiver.
The defense has some similar candidates to make leaps. Dominic Nichols has been raved about as an edge rusher, as has Cole Sullivan at linebacker and Mason Curtis at safety. Sophomores Tevis Metcalf and Jo’Ziah Edmond could be in for big roles as corners. Meanwhile, freshman Shamari Earls might be the most college-ready of Michigan’s freshman options. If the young guys are able to step into decent-sized roles right away and find ways to not be fazed, things could be looking up for Michigan.
Re-creating the 2021 season
Wasn’t Michigan supposed to be bad in 2021? Well, if you watched the Wolverines play in 2020 you would have thought so. Heading into the 2021 season, ESPN’s metrics famously gave the Wolverines just a two percent chance to win the conference, yet Michigan defied the odds.
Heading into this season, Michigan’s odds aren’t much higher, just six percent according to the FPI , meaning it might take a repeat of 2021’s script to get the job done. Fortunately, a lot of those pieces are already in place. On offense, Michigan will rely on a combination of a veteran and five-star freshman at quarterback, a talented yet inexperienced offensive line, and an untested group of pass-catchers. On defense, Michigan has a good mix of veterans that are talented but haven’t reached star status yet. Sounds like the 2021 season to me.
Of course, Michigan got some breakouts that year from David Ojabo and Aidan Hutchinson, who went from being just talented players to superstars. Why couldn’t T.J. Guy and Derrick Moore do that? What about Keene being passable enough to keep the offense efficient, a la, Cade McNamara? What about Haynes and Marshall re-creating the Blake Corum and Hassan Haskins duo? There are lots of similarities on paper.