Wolverines Draw Penn State as History Favors Our New Man in Charge

The 2026 preseason AP poll is out, and buried in all the SEC noise sits a number that ought to put a little pep in every Michigan fan's step this fall. Going all the way back to Bo Schembechler's first year in 1969, six of the past seven new Michigan coaches have won at least eight games — that's not luck, that's Ann Arbor doing what Ann Arbor does. Michigan is coming off a 9-4 campaign, and the schedule hands us a familiar face: Penn State, for the first time since 2023. Mark that one down. The Nittany Lions caught a break of their own, drawing neither Ohio State, Oregon, nor Indiana in the regular season — and yet we still get our shot at them, the way it should be. Ohio State opens as the top-ranked team in the land, Oregon at No. 2, Georgia at No. 3, and the SEC packed five teams into the top 10. Michigan? We let the numbers and the history do the talking.