Danny Kanell has little love for the SEC, generally, so he doesn't buy into it being automatically better than the rest. But Saturday went a long way to reversing the ground that the Big Ten had made up in the past three seasons.
Ohio State, the No. 1 team in the country, squandered a 20-point fourth quarter lead at Texas. Minnesota got beaten badly by Mississippi State. And outside of the Big Ten-SEC matchups, there were some head-scratchers, like Oregon losing to Oklahoma State and Illinois losing to Duke.
But one team managed to understand the assignment.
Michigan football shocked the college football world by coming out and beating Oklahoma on Saturday after looking like a lost outfit against Western Michigan in Week 1. And Kanell, a host on ESPN
radio on SiriusXM and a former Florida State quarterback, is giving the Wolverines requisite love.
Taking out of account the preseason expectations for teams, Kanell ranked Michigan football in his top 12 after Week 2, slotting the maize and blue in at No. 6 overall given the accomplishment of taking down the Sooners.
I don’t care what you were ranked last week. Or the preseason. Who has been the best on the field. Against the best. #DKtop12
— Danny Kanell (@dannykanell) September 13, 2026
1. Texas
2. LSU
3. Ole Miss
4. ND
5. Miami
6. Michigan
7. Duke
8. Tenn
9. Texas AM
10. Bama
11. Miss State
12. SMU
While it's too early to tell just how good or bad Oklahoma might be, it's still one of the best wins in the sport in the young season thus far. Texas and Oklahoma State are the only teams in the country that have better wins at the moment, and even they could falter down the stretch.
Michigan still has a tough slate ahead; Oklahoma was just the first test of six. While UTEP comes to town next week, Iowa will open up Big Ten play the week after that. Two weeks later, Penn State comes to town.
Regardless, beating the Sooners could galvanize the team after a week where it could have faltered given all of the controversy coming out of Week 1. We'll see if the maize and blue can capitalize after a surprising win.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Danny Kanell ranks Michigan No. 6 after upset win over Oklahoma
