Newest AP Top 25 takes shine away from anticipated Oklahoma-Michigan matchup

Whatever marker was used to circle the date of the Oklahoma Sooners’ trip to Michigan has since faded.

The newest AP Top 25 Poll dropped Tuesday afternoon after a looong Week 1, and although OU fans likely noticed first that the Sooners dipped a spot from No. 10 to No. 11 despite just blowing out UTEP 51-0, what deserved a double-take was Michigan being nowhere to be found at all, as if the voters treated that miracle win over Western Michigan as a Week 1 loss.

It will still be a battle of college football blue bloods this weekend in Ann Arbor, but what was once projected to be a top-15 clash on Big Noon Kickoff won't even be a ranked-vs-ranked matchup when the Sooners travel to Michigan at 11 a.m. CT Saturday. Suddenly, OU also went from boasting three ranked matchups within the first five games to two and won't face a top-25 foe until Week 4 against Georgia.

Week 1 AP Top 25 Poll

1. Ohio State
2. Georgia
3. Notre Dame
4. Texas
5. Indiana
6. Oregon
7. Miami (FL)
8. LSU
9. Ole Miss
10. Texas A&M
11. Oklahoma
12: Alabama
13. Texas Tech
14. USC
15. BYU
16. Penn State
17. SMU
18. Tennessee
19. Washington
20. Utah
21. Iowa
22. Houston
23. Missouri
24. Louisville
25. Virginia
Others receiving votes: Boise State 86, Florida 83, Michigan 69, Arizona 33, Memphis 23, South Carolina 19, Western Michigan 12, Pittsburgh 11, Navy 10, UCLA 7, Virginia Tech 6, Illinois 6, James Madison 4, Minnesota 4, Colorado 3, Auburn 2, Arizona State 2, Vanderbilt 2

Sooners also suffer from the Wolverines' disappointing Week 1 showing

Michigan was caught up in the biggest storyline of Week 1 after barely surviving a catastrophic upset thanks to a magical extra second. Reigning MAC champion Western Michigan had seemingly upset the Wolverines 12-7 at The Big House and was already rejoicing when a replay by a Big Ten officiating crew ruled that there was actually one second left on the clock after quarterback Bryce Underwood's failed Hail Mary attempt. With that extra tick, Underwood then completed a 47-yard pass to JJ Buchanan in the end zone for the 13-12 "win."

Although most OU fans agreed Western Michigan was robbed of a win and also joined the rest of the college football world in poking fun at the Wolverines, Michigan's 1-0 record, no matter how it got there, actually benefited the Sooners as the Wolverines' next opponent. It was predicted the poor showing would definitely hurt the Wolverines in the next batch of rankings, but not enough to plummet Michigan from No. 16 to completely unranked. The Wolverines were the only team to fall from the rankings after Week 1.

Now, the Sooners still take on a famous logo and the same talented roster inside the largest stadium in college football, but without all the benefits. There's certainly less worry about the Sooners' challenge after what we witnessed Saturday, but Michigan is still no pushover, whether ranked or not.

"However Michigan played last week, we're gonna bring out the best in Michigan, I can promise you," OU head coach Brent Venables said during Tuesday's press conference, just before the new rankings were revealed.

Worst-case scenario, the Sooners suffer a road loss that's now forever to an unranked squad, no matter the context that can eventually be added. Best-case scenario, beating Michigan on the road will still be a nice feather in the Sooners' cap, but it still won't show up as a ranked win come time when the selection committee is making decisions about the College Football Playoff. Having so many ranked victories in 2025 not only helped OU get into the 12-team playoff field, but also host as the No. 8 seed.

There's no doubt the spotlight will be dimmer on OU and Michigan this week and completely overshadowed by Texas hosting Ohio State in another SEC vs. Big Ten matchup between a pair of top-5 squads.

Whether it's an overreaction or not and Michigan is still Michigan, the Sooners will be forced to absolutely dominate the Wolverines in order to earn the same respect they would have earned a week ago with just a win.

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