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Talking season has nearly concluded, as the 2026 college football campaign is set to kick off Saturday, Aug. 29.
So with just under two weeks remaining before TCU and North Carolina open the season in Dublin, everybody is looking to get their hot takes recorded before it’s too late.
Answering a handful of rapid-fire questions during Saturday’s edition of SportsCenter, ESPN college football analyst Sam Acho laid down some predictions for the ’26 campaign, and he made one Big Ten fan base very unhappy.
The former Texas Longhorn was asked who he believed would be the biggest underachiever this fall, and Acho went with Michigan and first-year head coach Kyle Whittingham as his choice.
“Mainly because of not just having a new coach, but also their schedule,” Ocho said. “Week 2 play they play an Oklahoma team that will be significantly better. They have Oregon and Indiana on their schedule, a better Penn State team and Iowa as well.”
Acho also believes that the culture shift may create some bumps in Year 1 under Whittingham, but his main points revolved around the Wolverines’ looming slate of games.
Michigan will take on 8 teams that reached a bowl last year, as well as 4 opponents who took part in the 2025-2026 College Football Playoff (OU, IU, Oregon and OSU).
Parker is currently the sports editor for Gulf Coast Media in Foley, Alabama. He's a graduate from Mizzou who has experience covering the Tiger football and basketball beats for SB Nation, and he's worked for a variety of sports news outlets in the past.