Michigan spent the 2025-2026 athletic year stacked near the top of the Big Ten and the national picture, and the numbers backed it up. The Wolverines finished No. 3 in CBS Sports’ ranking of all 68 Power Four schools across six major sports, trailing only Texas and Alabama.
CBS Sports used a point system to sort out the best overall year in football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, baseball, volleyball and softball, with hockey excluded. Thirty percent of each school’s score came from regular-season wins and 70% from postseason wins.
Making a bowl game or the NCAA Tournament was worth 20 points, with each higher stage adding more. A national title was the top prize at 100 points, and the final number was the average across the six sports.
Michigan’s final score came out to 50.09. Texas led the way at 66.73, while Alabama checked in second at 53.27.
Nebraska was the next Big Ten school on the list at No. 5.
Ohio State tied Oklahoma State at No. 34, and Michigan State landed at No. 52.
The Wolverines’ rise was driven most heavily by the winter sports. Men’s basketball delivered the headline-grabber, finishing 37-3 and bringing home the program’s first national championship since 1989. Michigan rolled through the competition on its way to the title.
Women’s basketball also gave the school a strong postseason push. Kim Barnes Arico’s team went 28-7 and advanced to the Elite Eight before falling to Texas. Before that loss, Michigan knocked off Holy Cross, NC State and Louisville in the first three rounds.
Football provided a familiar baseline. In Sherrone Moore’s final season, Michigan went 9-3 in the regular season before losing to Texas in the bowl game.
Softball added another solid season, finishing 36-22 and reaching the NCAA regional before losing to host Oklahoma.
Baseball, meanwhile, came up short of its goals. Michigan lost to Nebraska in the Big Ten Tournament and did not make the NCAA Tournament.
Volleyball rounded out the year with its best record since 2018, going 22-11 and reaching the second round of the NCAA Tournament. One of its biggest wins came against then-No. 10 Minnesota.
For Michigan, the season across all six sports added up to one of the best in the country, and the Wolverines will try to keep that momentum rolling in 2026-2027.
In Other News...
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Indiana sits in the middle of that stretch as the game that could tell the story of Michigans season. If the Wolverines arrive there still in contention, the meeting with the reigning national champions becomes a major test of staying power, especially after a brutal run through Penn State and Oklahoma. And if the Big Ten title market is any indication, Michigan is already being treated like a team with something to prove before the calendar even turns to November. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan Just Lost One Of Its Biggest 2027 Recruiting Battles
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Still, Michigans secondary board is hardly empty after Dobsons choice. The Wolverines continue to hold commitments from five defensive backs in the 2027 class, giving the staff a solid foundation even after coming up short in one of the cycles biggest head-to-head battles. For a program that keeps selling NFL development and defensive back success, the pursuit of more elite help in the back end is far from over. [Read more 🡒]