Michigan’s win over Oklahoma on Saturday did more than give the Wolverines a résumé-boosting result at the Big House. It nudged them up a single spot in ESPN’s SP+ rankings, a small climb that still says plenty about how Bill Connelly’s metric views this team after two weeks.
Michigan now checks in at No. 25 after Week 2, up one place from the previous update. The bigger jump came in the rating itself: the Wolverines moved to 13.8, an improvement of 1.6 points from last week. Oklahoma, meanwhile, slid four spots to No. 14 after the 17-10 loss.
The win came in classic grind-it-out fashion. Michigan entered the game as an underdog, but it controlled enough of a rock fight to come away with the seven-point victory and change the tone around its season.
SP+ is built to do something different from a simple wins-and-losses list. It blends offensive, defensive, and special teams efficiency into one number that estimates how many points a team would beat, or lose to, an average college team by on a neutral field. It’s less about what happened in one game and more about how complete a team looks across every phase.
There was movement around Michigan on the national board, too. Ohio State dropped from the top spot to No. 2 after its 24-23 loss to Texas on Saturday night, with Georgia moving into first.
Oregon fell two places to No. 9 after being upset by Oklahoma State. Among Michigan’s notable opponents, Indiana sits at No. 5 and Penn State at No. 17, while Iowa is just behind at No.
Michigan will finish its non-conference schedule next week by hosting UTEP. The Miners are ranked No. 122 in SP+ with a -16.2 rating, and the metric projects roughly a 30-point Michigan win.
In Other News...
Michigan Defense Just Got Telling Praise After Oklahoma Win
John Mateer had little trouble identifying where Saturday went sideways for Oklahoma after Michigan left town with a 17-10 win. The Sooners quarterback said his own accuracy and missed throws were part of the problem, and the numbers backed up the frustration: he finished 17 of 33 for 189 yards with one touchdown and one interception, while Oklahomas offense never quite found a rhythm against the Wolverines.
From Michigans side, that kind of self-assessment from the opposing quarterback is the sort of quiet validation a defense notices. Oklahoma managed just 289 total yards and converted only three of 13 third downs, and Mateer ended up leading the Sooners in rushing yards as well, a sign of how often Michigan kept the bigger answers off the table. For a Wolverines defense trying to build on a game that turned on one late touchdown, praise from the quarterback on the other sideline only sharpens the edge of what it did well. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan Controlled Oklahoma With One Weapon Fans Rarely Celebrate
Special teams usually only get noticed when something goes wrong, but Michigan has leaned on that phase in a way that has quietly shaped its early season. Kyle Whittingham made a point of stressing the punt unit in preseason, and the Wolverines have turned that into real field-position value through the first two games, with Cam Brown consistently driving opponents deep and making every exchange on the field feel a little longer for the other sideline.
Michigans coverage work has helped the punt game land even harder. Defensive players such as Zeke Berry have chipped in to keep return yards down, turning hidden-yardage moments into part of the broader defensive edge. It is not the flashiest reason the Wolverines have been able to control games, but it is the kind of detail that tends to matter most once the schedule tightens and one or two possessions start deciding everything. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan Just Made Another Push For A Five-Star Local Receiver
Dakota Guerrants visit to Michigans game against Oklahoma gave the Wolverines another chance to keep the five-star receiver close to home, even after his June commitment to Oregon. The Michigan native has strong local ties, and the Wolverines continue to press for a reopening in a recruitment that still carries plenty of intrigue because of who he is and where he grew up.
Oregon has its own selling point in this race, with recent success developing NFL-caliber wide receivers helping make the Ducks a tough pull to beat. Michigan, though, is still working to persuade Guerrant to reconsider, and his presence in Ann Arbor suggested this one is far from settled. [Read more 🡒]