Michigan football hasn't exactly looked like a world beater through three games of the Kyle Whittingham era just yet. However, no one expected the Wolverines to beat Oklahoma
, winning all three phases of the game. And yet, that's precisely what they did. But with Iowa coming to town, the same story has risen from the ashes of before Week 2 -- very few expect the maize and blue to be able to come out on top.And CBS Sports' panel is a microcosm of that.
Four people -- former Notre Dame and LSU head coach Brian Kelly; Aaron Taylor; former Colorado, Washington, and UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel; and Brian B.J. Jones -- all made their early picks of who will win that game, and only one unlikely suspect favored the Wolverines over the Hawkeyes.
Video and
quotes are below.
Who will win between Iowa and Michigan? 🤔@CoachBrianKelly, @JonesN4mo, @CoachNeuheisel and @AaronTaylorCFB give their picks for this ranked Week 4 matchup.#ICF pic.twitter.com/k0fwvJMlDG
— CBS Sports College Football 🏈 (@CBSSportsCFB) September 23, 2026
Brian Kelly
This one's easy for me. When your quarterback's the leading rusher in a game like this against Iowa and Phil Parker's defense, I just lean towards the guys that have always done it, and he's always been there with great run defense. And again, they're gonna have to run the ball. Michigan, they're gonna have to be much more diversified. And if it's the quarterback as your leading rusher, I'm gonna go with Iowa.
Pick: Iowa
Aaron Taylor
That's a concern that I have as well. When you look at these two teams, man, the blueprint and what they're trying to be is identical. They want to bully at the lines of scrimmage and throw just enough to beat you. To Bryce Underwood's credit, I think he probably had his best game he's ever had last week throwing the ball. We saw the highlights to Buchanan, but the lack of the run game is a real concern coming in. Iowa's the best defense right now in the Big Ten. It's early in the season. They really haven't played anybody this will test them, but Phil Parker once again has seemingly fixed some of those issues that we expected coming into the season was the lack of the defensive line. We're gonna see if Iowa can stop the run. I believe they do, and the run game will be the difference.
Pick: Iowa
Rick Neuheisel
Let me show you the last play of the game in the Cy-Hawk game. The last play in the game, and I want you to pay close attention, so dang close attention to the story. It's 13-13, and that thing goes through the pipes, and Iowa wins, a typical Midwestern Cy-Hawk affair. Been doing that; 16-13 was the final.
This is gonna be a slobber knocker game field position, and you mentioned Phil Parker and Kirk Ferentz being very comfortable in that. You know who else is very comfortable in the head is Kyle Whittingham. Yeah, he's done it with all kinds of different quarterbacks, right, all kinds of different offensive coordinators. He knows how to play this game, and they got 110,000 people pulling for him in this game. They don't play great when the opponent isn't real exciting because it's a blah, ho ho ho. No, they don't, they don't! It's either there, there, there -- it's like a church situation; they will be there just as they were against Oklahoma. Give me the Wolverines in a low-scoring game
Pick: Michigan
Brian B.J. Jones
Not a lot of volociousness in this. This is old man Bo Schembechler. We're going back to old man football, and you're right. It's gonna be snot bubbles, baby, in the trenches. So get ready, buckle it on tight.
But I look at Hank Brown, this quarterback, 12 for 12 a week ago, and I understand the competition but through three games, he's got the best completion percentage of any Iowa quarterback since Drew Tate back in 2005. That's saying something for Iowa because they've struggled at that QB position. I think it's gonna come down to someone making a pass play. Is it gonna be Underwood? Is it gonna be Hank Brown?
Now, as far as that running game: 422 last week for Iowa? But only 93 versus Iowa State a few weeks back. But I'm taking those cats that hail from where I was born. I, once again, Mr. Producer, am taking the team that hails from my birthplace. I wasn't born in Ann Arbor.
Pick: Iowa
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: CBS Sports panel makes picks for Michigan-Iowa Big Ten showdown
