The Michigan Wolverines got exposed in front of a national audience on Saturday night when they lost to Oklahoma, 24-13. The scoreboard doesn’t make it look all that bad, but the eye test showed an offense that is lacking a solid offensive line and playmakers on the outside to help out a young quarterback.
ESPN’s FPI saw exactly what we all saw on Saturday night and dropped Michigan seven spots from 21 down to 28 following the loss. To make matters worse, the FPI also significantly lowered the projected
win-loss total from 8.3-3.8 all the way down to 7.1-4.9. That is a drastic difference for just one game, but it appears that expectations should be adjusted for the Wolverines in 2025.
The FPI gives Michigan an 89.1 percent shot at winning at least six games and making it to bowl season, but that’s about the only positive takeaway as of now. The FPI also has the odds of Michigan winning the Big Ten incredibly slim at just 0.7 percent and the chance of it making the College Football Playoff is at 3.8 percent, significantly lower than it was a week ago (17.1 percent).
Meanwhile, conference foe Oregon jumped from No. 7 all the way to No. 1 following a blowout victory over Oklahoma State. Ohio State stayed in the No. 3 spot, while Penn State dropped two spots after a less-than-stellar showing against Florida International on Saturday. Other Big Ten teams ahead of Michigan on the FPI after Week 2 include Indiana (No. 16) and Illinois (No. 24).
The computer models are showing us exactly what we expected to see following a brutal loss to a solid Power 4 program — that the Wolverines still have a long way to go before getting back to where they want to be.
