Andy & Ari On3 - Michigan Wolverines 2025 Preview: Is Bryce Underwood ready NOW?

Episode Date: June 12, 2025

While the Michigan Wolverines didn't have quite the success last year as they did in Jim Harbaugh's last season, Sherrone Moore stepped up in Ann Arbor and led Michigan to an 8-5 2024 season with wins over Ohio State and Alabama. As the shift turns to this upcoming season, freshman star Bryce Underwood is now on campus and the growing thought is that he will be the starter for the Wolverine offense. Is this the case? Watch here as Chris Balas from TheWolverine.com joins Andy & Ari to discuss how things may go in the Big House this season. (0:00-2:16) Intro: Michigan(2:17-7:19) Chris Balas from TheWolverine.com joins(7:20-11:53) Michigan's ability to adjust in CFB(11:54-14:36) Is Bryce Underwood ready NOW?(14:37-18:03) Offensive Weapons for Michigan, Passing Game(18:04-19:57) Will Michigan be a playoff contender?(19:58-21:25) How Michigan's defense holds up(21:26-23:55) Michigan's Culture(23:56-28:38) Schedule for Michigan(28:39-29:56) Wrapping Up Stay up to date on all things Michigan here: https://www.on3.com/teams/michigan-wolverines/ Follow Chris Balas here on Twitter: https://x.com/balas_wolverine?lang=en  Want to watch the show instead? Join us LIVE on YouTube, M-F at 9:30 am et! https://www.youtube.com/@On3sports Hosts: Andy Staples, Ari WassermanProducer: River Bailey Interested in partnering with the show? Email [e-mail]  

Welcome to Andy and Ariane three are deep dive into the more intriguing team. I can use is one of the most intriguing teams of 2025. The Michigan Wolverines National Championship in 2023. Jim Harbaugh leaves grown more awkward timing in terms of replacing Harbaugh dealing with the, filling out a staff. They end up having a great defense and an essentially non-functional offense, yet still beat Ohio State, and then beat Alabama, a pretty much full-strength Alabama team in the Reliaquest Bowl. And oh, by the way, they get the number one quarterback prospect in America, Bryce Underwood

and Ari. All of a sudden things look very different. Yeah, so Michigan is one of the more fascinating teams to me because of this overarching question. And you know, I'm big picture guy, so deal with this. OK, Michigan, we can both agree, did one of the most remarkable things that anybody has done in my lifetime in college football, the way they assembled their 2023 roster. Lightning all came together, it struck with force, and those players won a national championship during a time in which you had to recruit, or I thought you had to recruit at a certain level ever to even think you could do that. Now the sport has shifted and Michigan has shifted with it and Michigan has seemingly gotten way more

serious about acquiring players through N. I. L. But at the same time, the rest of the sport isn't as deep as it was in 2015. And the question I guess to you is is Michigan now more apt to compete for a national championship on an annual basis than ever before? And if so, does that start now? And that's my Michigan take. So we'll see, but that's kind of what it seems like.

They did it when it was the hardest for them to do it. And now the other teams that they had to beat in order to get to it might not be as good as they've been in the past, while also they have Bryce Underwood on their team. All make sense? Makes sense to me. As far as answering your question, I think we should bring on someone who can answer it even better.

And that is Chris Ballas from the Wolverine on threes Michigan site. And Chris, I mean, you've watched the evolution of this thing. If we went back five years, could you have predicted any of this? Like when when Jim Harbaugh got his pay cut, could you have imagined any of this? No, and I think that's kind of what sparked him and pissed him off, frankly, to really kind of elevate his own game when it came to coaching and everything else.

But Ari was absolutely right. Everything came together perfectly. And some of these kids that they recruited that may not have been five stars. And I'll give you an example, Mason Graham, who was the fifth overall pick in the NFL draft was a guy who was vastly underrated. He was going to go to Boise State and then Michigan sees him and says, wow, this kid's much better on film than we thought. He doesn't have the typical body, the prototypical NFL body or collegiate body, high major body, but the guy was just an absolute

stud. So guys like him and Blake Corum, JJ McCarthy wouldn't have been here probably, had Ohio State offered him and he had a chip on his shoulders. So Trevor Keegan's mom went to Michigan, an offensive lineman. You can go right down the list of how things came together. Mikey Seinristal, who we see on this picture here, as a defensive back and Nick Saban said pound for pound might have been the best player in last year's draft. Turns goes from three star receiver to five star defensive backs. So it all came together perfectly, but the best thing about it guys and why they won was the culture.

And that's where we have some question marks here, right? You can go out and spend the money on a quarterback like Bryce Underwood, and you're going to have the talent, but are you going to be able to maintain the culture that Jim Harbaugh built here? And that's really why they were winning championships. So it's going to be fascinating now. They did not spend a ton of money in the spring portal because they had to spend more money fellas on keeping their own roster together, because people were already trying to poach the guys who had just gotten here.

So they're still trying to figure out what to do with their money and who knows how the house settlement and everything else is going to affect that. But I think it's a valid point that Michigan is now in the game and a big part large part because some of the boosters really stepped up. And Larry Ellison's wife. Yeah, I was gonna say Booster roping in roping in billionaires and they didn't go to school. Exactly. So and it's his wife who's the Michigan fan.

And you know, she was the one apparently at Joeline Ellison and really kind of the goddess of the Michigan football message boards now for what she's done for the program. So but as long as that money cannon is still going off, then I think yeah. And as long as it's allowed, they're allowed to do that, right? The NCAA is talking about capping it and making sure that NIL is legit and everything else. I don't know how they do that now.

The genie is out of the bottle, right? But there'll be lawsuits everywhere. But at the same time, Michigan fans are like genuinely thrilled that Michigan's finally paying to play when they supposedly haven't been doing it over the years, like some of these other programs. And we'll see what transpires from it. But it got him Bryce Underwood. And I can tell you, he's really made an early incredible impression on his teammates. We can't go on this podcast without taking a slight veer and not laugh at how funny it is

that Illinois is actually going to be really, really good this year and could have used that money. Right. Like, is that like, am I the only one that thinks that that's kind of like, I know if you're an Illinois fan, you don't think it's funny, but it's like, they got shot con. He's a billionaire. I'm just saying like the money was, if the money was directed towards them, you could make the case that in this off season, they were closer to competing at that. But you know, Luke Altmeyer would really be swimming in right now. Luke Altmeyer just got like Casey Concepcion and someone else to like throw to also. I don't know. Kind of funny. Yeah. PG version wives are undefeated fellas, right? I mean,

when it comes to that kind of thing. So keep her happy. And she's a big time Michigan fan. It was unbelievable when the name came out and I put it two and two together when I heard about this when they that they were talking to them and I'm saying wait wait D Larry Ellison you know and I'm thinking this is a dream for Michigan fans so and he's doing it on the the basketball side too you saw what Dusty May did with his roster for the last couple of years so and it's kind of sad fellas that that's what it's come to a kind of a bidding war and what college athletics has become. I guess it was only a matter of time, but if it isn't that, if that is the case, then you

certainly want your team to be one of the haves and not the have nots. Andy, I'm not sad. I love bidding wars been there for me. So I got no problem with any for somebody else. If you don't mind, and I'll let you take the show from here, but I do think this is fascinating and I want to ask you Chris because it is something that I've wondered. So for many years, Michigan viewed itself in a light that was different from other places, right? I'll say it. The most holier than thou fan base in America. Okay, you can say it. You mean the more so than Notre Dame?

Yes. Okay, all right. Cause they're cynical and holier than thou. Michigan wasn't even cynical about that. Fair enough. But the thing that I think is interesting is, is now that they're playing the game, the way that everybody else has played it,

have you seen a fundamental shift in how fans react to you, your work, the team? Have they accepted that? And what has it been like kind of covering the team as it's gone through an evolution of Kickstarter's doing things the right way to part of the evil empire? It's a great question. And the old guard and guys my age and above hate it, right? They're like, wait, this isn't college football. A scholarship should be enough, you know,

and the meal card and the meal tokens that you get for local restaurants. Whereas the younger people are like, it's about time, right? It's about time that we did this and we got caught up and started playing that game because they, obviously they think that the SEC's been playing it for years, right? Legally or illegally, they've been saying that forever. But they also understand that if you're going to compete, this is the way to do it now. We've seen

what has happened when Michigan hasn't spent money. They were losing recruits to Kentucky and Louisville that they in schools that they had owned over the years when it came to recruiting. And then all of a sudden when they get the money, they're starting to compete and they said, okay, we're not going to get beat for Bryce Underwood. And they just kept coming back and coming back and saying, what's it going to take to get you here when Bryce Underwood had absolutely no interest in Michigan at one point because they weren't playing the game. So if you want to be relevant, and I think the vast majority of the fan base understands this now, if you want to be relevant, then this is what you're going to have to do. And since it's a level playing field,

I don't think there's that much of a complaint when it comes to, okay, everybody has the opportunity to do this. Now, not everybody has the boosters, right, or the money or the interest that maybe a Michigan does. Even though before Larry Ellison, it was really, really hard for Michigan to raise some money here. So, but when I say playing field I mean the rules are the same for everybody and as long as that's the case I think Michigan fans are going to be happy because more than anything as you guys know it's about winning and winning in that national championship and how much they enjoyed that and how much they enjoyed that season pretty much trumps everything. Yeah I think that like tainted a taste of that national championship kind of like, well, that was fun. Why

don't we do that again? Because I do remember like, I've written plenty of Collins that have in my life that have enraged Michigan fans, but even before they won the national championship two years ago, I would scream from the mountaintops, the Ohio State rivalry doesn't have to be this way. Michigan's got everything you need to be successful. They could win a national championship and everyone's just like, no, no, no, we do it this way. This way we're doing it. And it's like,

now they're doing it the way that I said they should have done in 2016. It's like, why don't they do it in 2010? Right? They could have done it in 2010. Well, they could have at the same time, you know, there are other and I hate to say this mission center, the NCAA microscope, right, but there are things there are areas where Michigan wouldn't go that other schools would at least that was their their point, right? That we aren't going to do this and we don't want to cheat and these other schools must be cheating. And then, you know, you'd hear about these schools,

you know, the cars and everything else, not that Michigan was holier than now, and I hate to say it, but you're absolutely right, Andy, about that. So, so I don't know. I just think it's different now because with all the rulings, the court rulings and everything else that made NIL legal, then now Michigan fans can say, okay, now we can do it this way and we don't have to worry about the NCAA coming down on us or breaking any rules, things like that. And the things that Michigan, the older guard really values here. So that's, I think, the biggest difference. But now going forward, it's gonna be interesting

to see what happens here, again, with the house settlement ruling coming up. And because right now it doesn't seem like Michigan's paying as much on the NAO for whatever reason. Maybe they're just waiting to get the NCAA stuff behind them, but they're not recruiting as well either. So it's fascinating how everything seems to change within several month periods here as to what you can and can't do and

where your program is headed. So full disclosure we're recording this Thursday the day before Michigan's hearing with the NCAA Committee on Infractions. So if Conor Stallions got up on a table and did the twist during the hearing, we don't know that yet. So we'll talk plenty about that as time goes on, I'm sure. But I do want to kind of focus on this, what's coming up this season. And I think Bryce Underwood is a great place to start because that's the first person anybody's going to ask about. Because you mentioned maybe they're not spending as much, but they did spend to get him. And it seemed like the plan was, okay, they bring in Chip Lindsay as the OC.

At the same time, they bring in Mikey Keane, who had played for Lindsay at UCF, and then gone on to Fresno State and had a good successful career there. Keane gets hurt before spring practice. Is Underwood gonna be the guy? I mean, does he really have no choice but to be the guy at this point?

I don't think he has no choice because I think Mikey Keane is starting to heal up. I talked to Chip Lindsay today as a matter of fact, the offensive coordinator and he said he's back healthy. He's throwing a little bit and he had an upper body injury that really limited him. So I suppose he could come out of nowhere and all of a sudden pick up the offense. Having worked with Chip Lindsay before and just wowing everybody at the point where, okay, he's the guy.

But Bryce Underwood from practice one to practice 15 and what he brings to the table in terms of physical skills is like nothing anybody's ever seen here before. And we've seen Drew Henson here as a true freshman. Chad Henney started here as a true freshman. They say people who've been here for 35, 40 years say he is by far the best freshman quarterback, true freshman that they've seen here. So now part of it's going to be the people around him, right? And the receiving core, there are still some question marks there.

The offensive line, there are question marks there. So you can't put him in harm's way. And I keep telling people about Devin Gardner, for example, back in 2013 and the beating he took. He should have been a better quarterback here, but he didn't have the pieces, right? So I do think that Underwood will be the guy. I think that Mikey Keene will be pushing him. Jaden Davis is a distant third.

But when I asked somebody specifically, I said, all right, off the record, who's your quarterback this year? And then he said, follow the money. And that means Bryce Underwood. Yeah. Just an off question that has nothing to do with this season but I've just been genuinely

curious what's been the deal with Jaden Davis because he was a big-time guy that people were excited about and I just feel like he hasn't even been in the discussion at all. Yeah, I mean he's smaller number one I you know if he's 5'10 I think that's generous to be honest with you winds up the throw. Uh, and I'm not, I don't want to rip on the kid, right. But I think he was a little bit overrated, uh, coming out of high school and a lot of his passes were okay. Receiver gets the ball, you know, 10 yard hits or something and takes it the distance.

So, uh, I think he's solid, but there were a lot of people who were not sold on him as a quarterback who can play at this level. And so you can see his, from the pictures in front of us, I know some people are listening, but the windup takes a long time for the ball to come out of his hands. So, but he's picked up the offense, he's gotten a lot better. There were people calling for him last year, Michigan fans calling for him and we'd heard in practice, man, he's not even close. And I still think he's got a long way to go.

I think there's no question he'll be third on the depth chart. And you know what that means in this day and age guys, when it comes to transfers and things like that, we'll always keep an eye on it. But to me, I think it was a matter of too high expectations early on. So we talked about receivers because this offense was non-functional from a passing standpoint last year year and it's more than just Bryce Underwood. Now, obviously they had Colson Loveland at first round tight end on this offense last year, but how how do they get guys ready for Bryce Underwood to deliver them the ball because

I'm not worried about them running the ball. I I know what Michigan is. You look at Chip Lindsay's history as an OC. He's a very run-first OC when he's coaching with Gus Malzahn or Mac Brown. And so I'm guessing heavy sets, 60% running the ball, 58% running the ball. But how do they have a functional passing in that allows them to keep the defenses honest? Yeah, it's a great question.

And I asked him that today too. And I said, what does balance mean to you? Is it 50 50? Is it 55 45? He says, it really depends on, you know, a how teams play you obviously in your personnel. And he fully acknowledges that the receiving room is not Ohio State, for example. You know, frankly, it wasn't Indiana last year. And so you've got a Donovan McCauley coming over

from Indiana who essentially got passed up last year. He still has the skills. He's been a great addition to the room, but he's your number one guy. And you can't really say that he's proven, right? Guys behind him. He got passed up by Elijah Sarat in the group that they brought in.

Right, exactly. And so, and was know, was it, he just didn't fit with the new regime, what is it? Because we'd seen him do some really good things in the big 10 that we gave you before, I think 635, 700 yards. So, but all of a sudden, that's your number one receiver here.

And at a place like Michigan, and I hate to say it, but you know, I'm going back to the past because, you know, they haven't had a 1,000 yard receiver in quite a while now, and they generally don't anymore. When Jim Harbaugh got here, we all know what Jim Harbaugh likes to do, right? But when I go back to the Braylon Edwards days and the Edwards Avant and Steve Preston and guys like that, Michigan should be better and should never have a problem landing top receivers. At the same time, if you're a run first team, as Roman Wilson said last year,

he said it is what it is, we understand we're gonna be blocking a lot. It's almost like the Bo Schembeck with me. So it's hard to secure that talent. So you have to get some of the guys that are coming in under the radar. Fred Moore is a guy that will have to stand up, step up. And he had a really nice,

a really nice Reliaquest bowl. Was really impressed with him. He's kind of the deep threat. Simaj Morgan kind of is who he is. So they're hoping that some of these freshmen will step up too, but at the same time, you know, freshmen receivers at Michigan are 400 yard guys if they're really, really good, even the Mario Manninghams back in the day, right? So there are question marks there.

They're going to have to rely on some of the tight ends again and really close to the level and bailed them out the last couple of years. So but they've got to get some more talent there. I really thought that they would go to the spring portal to land somebody. They said that guys were just too high priced at that point. And then kind of priced them out of the conversation. Same with the offensive tackles. I said they needed the left tackle.

Now it looks like they may be starting a true freshman in Andrew Babalola, if not Evan Link, who was really struggling on the right side. So that's the hand that Bryce Underwood or Mikey Keene has been dealt. It'll be very interesting to see how Chip Lindsey gets them involved because what he told me he said we're gonna get the ball to our explosive players. And I'm thinking, okay, who are they? You know? Yeah, we've seen this about working in around we know he's we know he's pretty

fast against certain teams but against Ohio State it's a little bit tougher. Right? It's interesting because I think it's a little bit tougher. Right. It's interesting because I think there's a lot of people out there that have a, a notion that Michigan is going to be a playoff contender here and you don't, your tone doesn't strike me as gung ho right now. I would say that defensively, if you had Bryce Underwood last year, or who had improved, say Bryce Underwood played really well, or you had a quarterback that played really well, then let's be honest, Michigan could have been right there in the conversation, the playoff conversation, having beaten Ohio State and

Alabama because of their defense. And I think the defense is going to carry this team again. I don't think there's any question about it. I think the run game, I think they feel very comfortable with it and confident that they're going to be good again with Justice Haynes and with Jordan Marshall. I think they believe that there are different things they can do and with a more dynamic offense and with an offensive coordinator who has done it and has proven that he can make the most of his players' talents that they're going to be able to move the ball well enough. Wink Martindale has said Michigan said Michigan's defen thinks this defense could

last year's which after d and Kenneth Grant, they s talent in the front seven Rodmore coming back at sa to run. But that's why I about it. They got an out game obviously with Domin believe that Bryce Underw

to be able to do a lot of things at the quarterback position by middle of the year where he's going to elevate that entire group. But they've got to find some guys who can catch the ball. And they've got to be better up front. So watching that Reliaquest Bowl, which was Alabama, basically full strength against the Michigan team, that was not the full strength version of the of the 2024 Michigan team, but a good representation of the 2025 Michigan defense where you had

TJ guy and Ray Sean Benny and Derek Moore, you know that that gave me confidence like, OK, they might not drop off a bit from that group last year. Yeah, and that's what they love. They love the front seven. They got Trey Williams from Clemson, who's really played well. Ray Sean Benny has been one of those guys. It's been right there with Mason, Graham and Kenneth Grant hasn't

really had as much time to play because he's been behind those guys, but might just be a hair behind them. They love him as an anchor up front. They think they're going to stop the run. It's really going to come down to what they do on the back end. Can they count on those young cornerbacks?

They wanted to go to the portal for a cornerback this year. Some guys still need to mature back there and they really wanted one more. So even though Zeke Berry moved over from safety and played very well in his last few games there. So, but they really feel good about these guys. And that was really kind of the test, right? We thought, okay, Alabama is going to run on these guys are going to move the ball on these guys and that front seven and what Derek Moore did especially in that game and TJ Guy really got you thinking that okay

maybe it's not going to be a huge step back when we lose Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant as the Michigan coaches were thinking so they played extremely well and of course they're well coached to Wink Martindale I think it took them a while to settle in fellas and to really adapt to coaching college kids again. And once he did and they started buying in and listening, then they really got better. So I think that's going to be the key to the season on defense as well that need the secondary. But to me again, it comes back down to that offense and what they can do at receiver and offensive line. Chris, you know what impressed both Andy and I the most?

I think last year, obviously beating Ohio State in and of itself was a monumental victory for a season that had gone off the rails a little bit. But the thing that we both talked about and agreed on was the culture that you said is going through an evolution, obviously with Jim Harbaugh now in the NFL and Sharon Moore taking over the strength and grit and culture necessary to pull that win off. It's not even just the individual game. It's the way that that team stayed together and finished the year. What is the culture like in that building and how much of Jim Harbaugh's, you know, echo is still there or is Sharon Moore doing his own thing? Tell us about the culture of Michigan and how it may be different or

the same as it used to be. Yeah and you know what time will tell and it's hard to say after one year right we have seen so many coaches benefit whether it's Sharon Moore, whether it's Juwan Howard, his first couple of years in basketball, you know, you benefit from the culture that's been established by the previous whether it's Sharon Moore, whether it's Joann Howard, his first couple of years in basketball, you know, you benefit from the culture that's been established by the previous guy. Now, Sharon Moore is a Jim Harbaugh disciple. So a lot of what he preaches

is what Jim Harbaugh preached too, right? But it's really when you get to year three, four, five, that you understand how much of that culture is still there. You know, everybody used to call Michigan incestuous when they would keep Lloyd Carr and they promote, oh, we need to go out and get a young whippersnapper like Rich Rodriguez, right? Well, there's something to be said for maintaining culture. And I thought Shroud-Nor was the right hire, number one, because I thought, number one, he was going to keep more assistance with him, which he did not. So he basically had to start by getting his own staff. And by the end of the year, those guys were working really well together. So you give him credit. At the same

time, that offense was abysmal. You look at the offensive line, it should have been better than it was. There was some sniping in the middle of the year where guys were really kind of getting on each other before they kind of brought it back and really changed the entire narrative of the season with those last two wins. If we're being honest, that Ohio State game and that Alabama game, if you lose those two games, then we, you know, Sheron Moore's not getting standing ovations when he goes into Chrysler Arena for a basketball game. People are going to be really concerned about the direction of the program.

So I think it's wait and see. And it really comes down to the leaders. And once you lose those guys, how are they being groomed? For example, Max Bredesen coming back as a graduate senior is still like, that's going to help the room, right? There are a few other guys there too on defense, but what's going to happen when those guys leave and is it going to be the same?

I think that's what we're going to have to wait and see. So now we look at this schedule and they've got to go to Oklahoma early in the season, which we don't know what Oklahoma is going to be. If you've been listening this week, you heard our deep dive show with the guys from Sooner Scoop on Monday. And we think the offense should be a lot better with John Matier, but we don't we don't really know where Oklahoma is at. And then, of course, you have the strange Central Michigan, Nebraska duo where it appears Shone Moore is going to be suspended. Michigan hasn't officially acknowledged that, but you're reporting in my reporting. Chris, you know, we've been told he is suspended for that, those two games.

And that's a self-imposed thing that they're hoping the NCAA is good with and doesn't attach more to, but we'll find out. So how big is that that stretch? The Oklahoma, central Michigan, Nebraska, going into Wisconsin, USC to, to figure out what they're going to be this season. That's a great question. And road games are tough, right? For anybody. And last year we were told early in the season, it's going to be tough for this Michigan team to win any road games. And then they go to Columbus,

right? And then somehow they pull one out, which was somewhat miraculous the way that game played out. Everything that had to go right went right. You're talking about a couple of missed chip shot field goals, but give Michigan credit, right? The defense came and played, played their butts off. And that's the reason they won the game. But that Oklahoma game is going to be telling, right? You're going to be going into a snake pit there.

Brett Benavilles is kind of, I don't know if he's coaching for his, his coaching life here, but it's certainly a big game for him. That's not one that you want to lose at home, especially to a freshman quarterback. Nebraska is going to be better. That's a tough place to play, guys. That was one of the most impressive atmospheres I've seen for a night game, and that includes Columbus. It was deafening in there. Those are going to be tough. I think Michigan fans and I think Michigan's thinking if we can split those, especially if we don't have our head coach, it might be more than two games, fellas. It might be maybe the NCAA comes back with four saying, okay, why do you get to pick

and choose that it's central in Nebraska? Because Sherrone Moore just wants to go back and coach against his alma mater at Oklahoma. So we don't know how that's going to affect them. We do know that those are tough road environments, right? And then you look at that USC game and everybody says, well, that's a game that Michigan should win. And two things here, we don't really know until we see these teams play how good they're going to be to Ari's point about Illinois.

They should be good, right? But I look at that schedule and I see a lot of loseable games still for Illinois, even in the talented Illinois team. They could be seven and five for all we know. But the one thing I do know about Michigan going out to the West coast and true road games is that they've won one, I think in my lifetime against a former Pack ball team. And that was a miracle in 1989. It is hard to win on the coast when you're traveling like that.

So I think that's going to be a tougher game too than some people envision or imagine they still have athletes and it's tough to travel out there for Michigan. So, yeah, I mean, yeah, the Penn State team that made the semi-finals last year went to overtime. And USC and USC better this year. So you had a rally to get there. So, yeah. So I think Washington will be improved at home.

Um, and then, you know, you've got the, in the middle there though, those are the games you should win before you play Ohio state. And but those are the ones right, all eyes are on that Oklahoma game. It's kind of like the Texas game last year, fellas went okay, that's the litmus test. What is this team? We don't really know after they beat Fresno State at home. Now they're playing a good team. They certainly were not ready for that challenge. Oklahoma is a little different because they're clearly not as talented as Texas. However, you take that road environment into account and that's going to be a tough game, tough game for mission. I'm going to put you on the spot here.

Now that we're wrapping up. Sure. Give us a record. And what do you think? Yeah, great. Yeah. Nine and three is where I am. And I think that's, um, you know, does that get

you into the playoff? Probably not. I think you're right there on the cusp though. Eventually guys are going to be several three loss teams. I think that make the playoffs and it's going to depend on the schedule and who you lose to and who you beat. Right. So, but I see them splitting. I see them splitting Oklahoma and Nebraska. I think they lose at USC. And I think it's probably time that Ohio state beats Michigan. I know Michigan fans are going to beat me up for it, but, um, Ohio State at some point, right? It's the law of averages. And I think Brian Day has a good team. It'll be interesting to see what they do, but, uh, I've got nine and three and I, you know, is it,

is it good enough to make the playoff? Probably not. But I know that a lot of people in that building are looking at the next year as the year when Bryce Underwood's a sophomore and they've got some depth and building that offensive line that they can really really make some noise. You guys who are members of the Wolverine already know what to do here you could find Chris on the boards he's very easy to find on the message board. So yeah you feel free to just have at him over that Ohio State prediction. But everybody hates me. And three is what I said to Chris, by the way, so for your preseason magazine, your guy Clayton hit me up and nine and three was what I said. I said I wouldn't be shocked if Underwood is good and they wind up being 10 and two. But it was like you said, Oklahoma, Nebraska, USC, Washington, you

know, some, some kind of splitting of those. Yep. And then Ohio State, it makes sense. But I will say, I've not been more surprised by it by a college football result in the last five years than last year's Ohio State Michigan game. So Yep, anything can happen. Well, we've seen the Cooper years guys and teams that Ohio State teams that had no business losing to Michigan it gets in your head, right? And it's in their head a little bit. I don't think there's any question about it. So at some point, though,

again, talent wins and in the brakes go the other way. So we'll see. But that's a long time between now and then. I don't want to get too excited about it, but man, there's nothing like the game, you know? Yeah. A lot more days to keep celebrating that victory. Chris Ballas, thank you so much. Anytime, Chris.

Appreciate you being here. Thanks, guys.