The dates and opponents are set for Michigan’s 2026 football season.
Takeaways from Michigan’s schedule release
Another Week 2 Tilt vs. Oklahoma
The Sooners head to Michigan in Week 2 after beating the Wolverines 24-13 in Norman last season, which was a Week 2 tilt as well. The 2025 loss occurred in the first road start of Bryce Underwood’s career. Quarterback John Mateer returns for his second season at Oklahoma after an up-and-down ‘25 campaign that
featured a hand injury, 14 passing touchdowns, and 11 interceptions.
Two tough home games in October
Michigan faces Penn State (Oct. 17) and Indiana (Oct. 24) at Michigan Stadium.
Penn State had a horrible 7-6 2025 season, which featured an in-season firing of James Franklin after many outlets considered the Nittany Lions a national championship favorite. However, there’s optimism with former Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell now in charge, and has 24 Iowa State players joining him, including quarterback Rocco Becht.
Indiana, which just won the national championship, will lose Fernando Mendoza to the NFL but will replace him with TCU transfer Josh Hoover, who’s thrown for 71 career passing touchdowns and 9,629 yards.
Two first-time Big Ten matchups
The firsts will come in back-to-back weeks. Michigan will face Oregon in Eugene on Nov. 14 and UCLA at Michigan Stadium on Nov. 21, marking the first time Michigan has played the two programs as Big Ten opponents.
A new head coach at Michigan State
Pat Fitzgerald is the new head coach at Michigan State, who will be facing the Wolverines at Michigan Stadium on Nov. 7. Fitzgerald was just 1-9 against Michigan during his time as Northwestern’s head coach.
Five games vs. ranked 2025 teams
Maize n Brew’s Von Lozon pointed out that Michigan will play five teams that were ranked in the final AP Top-25 poll of the 2025 season, including No. 1 Indiana, No. 4 Oregon, No. 5 Ohio State, No. 13 Oklahoma, and No. 17 Iowa. All of these teams are likely to be ranked in the initial top 25 poll of the 2026 season.
A Little Brown Jug Anniversary
Michigan and Minnesota will square off for the Little Brown Jug for the 100th time on Oct. 3 in Minneapolis. Michigan is 74-23-2 in the previous 99 contests for the jug.
