The first four games of Michigan Football’s 2025 season officially have kickoff times and TV designations. Here are some way-too-early predictions for those games:
The kickoff times and TV designations for the first four Michigan games of the season were released on Thursday. As such, we are going to throw some darts at the board and cast some way-too-early predictions for the first month of the Wolverines’ season.
Here are my way-too-early predictions for the first four weeks of 2025.
Week 1 vs New Mexico: Michigan starts season with a huge victory
As of now, the Vegas oddsmakers have Michigan as a 34.5-point favorite for this game, and that may be a bit too low, if we’re being honest. New Mexico is ranked as one of the worst teams in the country heading into the season (No. 130 out of 136 teams) on ESPN’s SP+ , and its defense is ranked at No. 134 overall.
Bryce Underwood and company are going to have a field day to kick off the season — the young quarterback tosses a pair of touchdowns, while Jordan Marshall and Justice Haynes each run for one touchdown and 50+ yards. Michigan keeps the touchdown party going with the backups, and the Wolverines easily win, 52-10.
Record: 1-0
Week 2 at Oklahoma: Michigan leaves with an L in Sherrone’s return to Norman
I’ve been saying it all offseason — this game is going to be tougher than a lot of Michigan fans are expecting. In fact, if I had to choose right this minute, I think the Wolverines leave Norman with a 1-1 overall record.
Oklahoma had one hell of a haul in the transfer portal this offseason, headlined by former Washington State quarterback John Mateer and former Cal running back Jaydn Ott. Both those guys were highly regarded in the portal, as Mateer was ranked No. 6 overall and Ott was ranked No. 50 overall by 247Sports .
The Sooners struggled offensively last year, but hired new offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle — who was at Washington State with Mateer last season — to lead the unit. On top of that, head coach Brent Venables is now set to call defensive plays this season. Venables was one of the best defensive play callers in the country when he was the coordinator at Clemson, so one would think this would also help Oklahoma moving forward.
All in all, I think this is a tight contest, but the Wolverines come up short and drop a close one on the road, 24-21.
Record: 1-1
Week 3 vs Central Michigan: The Wolverines bounce back in a big way
The Oklahoma loss will leave a sour taste in the mouths of the Wolverines, and they are going to take it out on the lowly Central Michigan Chippewas at the Big House with Sherrone Moore (tentatively, at least) sidelined due to the self-imposed two-game suspension starting this week.
CMU went 4-8 last season and is rebuilding under first-year head coach Matt Drinkall. A CMU alumnus myself, I have hope Drinkall can turn the program around…in time. It’s incredibly difficult to turn any program around so quickly, but especially at a non-Power 4 school where resources are scarce and you have to convince a bunch of underrated recruits to play college ball in Mount Pleasant (no offense to my former college home).
Underwood tosses three touchdowns in this game, while Justice Haynes racks up 100+ yards and a score himself. The defense will give up a garbage time touchdown, but the Wolverines get back in the win column with a dominant 42-7 showing.
Record: 2-1
Week 4: Michigan starts off Big Ten play with a victory at Nebraska
At this point in the year, you would hope that Underwood and offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey have built a decent in-game rapport and will be able to overcome Moore not being at this game. We know the defense will travel, but will the offense be able to hang with a historically tough, physical Nebraska defense?
At the end of the day, I believe so. The Cornhuskers present an early Big Ten road challenge, but Michigan has more overall talent from top to bottom than Nebraska does. The Wolverines pull this one out, 20-10.
Record: 3-1
What are your way-too-early predictions for these games? Let us know down in the comments section!