Michigan Wolverines football is the No. 16 team in the country in the first edition of the 2026-27 Coaches Poll released on Tuesday afternoon.

Michigan, entering its first season under head coach Kyle Whittingham, is one of 8 ranked Big Ten programs, headlined by rival Ohio State, the preseason No. 1 with 38 first-place votes. Oregon (No. 2, 6 1st place votes), Indiana (No. 6, 14 first-place votes), USC (No. 14), Penn State (No. 17), Washington (No. 19) and Iowa (No. 22) represent the conference.

The Wolverines have 6 teams ranked in the top-25 of the coaches poll on the 2026 schedule, and 3 top-6 programs in games against the Buckeyes in Columbus on Nov. 28, at Oregon on Nov. 14 and at home against Indiana on Oct. 24. It plays No. 9 Oklahoma in Week 2 at Michigan Stadium on Sept. 12.

The full poll can be seen below:
1. Ohio State (38 first place votes)
2. Oregon (6)
3. Georgia (7)
4. Texas (2)
5. Notre Dame (5)
6. Indiana (14)
7. Miami
8. Texas A&M
9. Oklahoma
10. Ole Miss
11. Alabama
12. Texas Tech
13. LSU
14. USC
15. BYU
16. Michigan
17. Penn State
18. Tennessee
19. Washington
20. SMU
21. Utah
22. Iowa
23. Clemson
24. Houston
25. Missouri

Whittingham was asked last week at Big Ten Football Media Days in Chicago about expectations for the upcoming season, where he stated he hoped Michigan would be playing in meaningful games in November.

“Well, I think it’s year one,” Whittingham said last Thursday. “We’ve got some work to do in the depth department at a few positions. I think in a year or two we’ll be right where we need to be across the board. I don’t want to paint the picture that the cupboard was left bare, because it wasn’t — a lot of good players in that program — but we’re just going to have to see how everyone adapts to the new schemes, the new culture.

“And if we can continue to get some good traction, and we’re playing for championships and in the hunt in November, then I think that goes hand in hand with being a playoff team or a potential playoff team.”

Michigan’s 2026 season kicks off on Sept. 5 against Western Michigan, set for a 7:30 p.m. broadcast on NBC. It will be the third year in a row the Wolverines open in primetime, doing so against Fresno State (30-10 W) in 2024 and New Mexico (34-17 W) in 2025.