There has been a lot of talk about scheduling during this college football offseason as there isn’t a lot of incentive to schedule difficult non-conference games with the new 12-team College Football Playoff format. Teams in the Big Ten and SEC will likely get in with a 10-2 record because of their conferences, so why risk another loss to jeopardize your chances? Well, Michigan football head coach Sherrone Moore still sees a lot of positives in those difficult early-season matchups.
The Michigan football team is in a stretch with some big non-conferences clashes, and it started last year with a game against Texas. The Wolverines play Oklahoma this year and next, and then they will play the Longhorns again in 2027. Sherrone Moore is excited about it.
“I kind of like scheduling the games, those brand-name, marquee games,” Moore said during an appearance on the Cover 3 Podcast. “One, it's really awesome to see where you're at, to test yourself against the best of the best, and to put yourself in a position to be ready for our conference, who I think is the best conference in football. … And I know we got Oklahoma this year. We got Oklahoma next year. And then we got Texas the year after that. And like in 2030, we go back to playing Notre Dame.”
While there isn’t a lot of incentive to play these games, they are still a ton of fun. It’s good for the sport, the fans, and recruiting as well. Moore wants guys who want to play on the biggest stage.
“But that's why you come to Michigan,” he said. “You don't come to Michigan to just play anybody. You want to play the big-time opponents. You tell kids in recruiting this: ‘You come to Michigan to play in big-time games.' Well, then go play them. Don't play the games that the kids don't want to play.”
The Michigan football team will travel to Oklahoma during Week 2 of the 2025 season, and it’s one of the biggest games on the schedule. We will learn a lot about the Wolverines in that game.
