Greg McElroy defends Oklahoma vs. Michigan as a Top 10 nonconference game in 2025

Two college football powerhouses will meet for the first time in the regular season when Michigan travels to take on Oklahoma in 2025. Anticipation is high with ESPN analyst Greg McElroy tabbing the Week 2 matchup as one of his top 10 nonconference games for the upcoming year.

The Sooners and Wolverines, despite their storied histories, are each coming off of somewhat down seasons in 2024. OU struggled in its first season as a member of the SEC, finishing with a 7-6 record, while Michigan went 8-5 just one year after winning the national championship.

That should make for an exciting game early in the season with both teams looking to prove themselves. McElroy previewed what he is most looking forward to seeing out of Oklahoma, which brought in transfer quarterback John Mateer from Washington State.

“Second straight year in which Michigan is taking on one of the SEC newcomers,” he said on his Always College Football podcast. “Last year, they played Texas in Ann Arbor and now they’ll go to Norman, Oklahoma, where they’ll take on a Sooner team that will have a lot of new face, but those new faces should be more productive than the guys they replaced from last year. Most notably at the quarterback spot with John Mateer transferring down from Washington State.

“Now he gets his chance to kind of showcase to the world what he’s capable of, much like Cam Ward did last year when he took the field for the Miami Hurricanes. John Mateer and a bunch of new weapons offensively will be going against a great defense from the Michigan Wolverines.”

Mateer put up big numbers last season for the Cougars, throwing for 3,129 yards and 29 touchdowns to seven interceptions while also rushing for 826 yards and 15 touchdowns. The Sooners will also have receiver Deion Burks healthy and brought in transfer receiver Javonnie Gibson after ranking last in the SEC in passing yards per game in 2024.

They’ll be tested against a Wolverines defense that is typically one of the better units in the country. However, its the offense that also has questions for Michigan entering the season with a quarterback battle ongoing between Bryce Underwood, the No. 1 recruit in the 2025 class, and transfer Mikey Keene.

“Then on the other side for Michigan, who’s their quarterback gonna be?” McElory wondered. “Will it be the talented five-star freshman Bryce Underwood? Will it be Mikey Keene potentially, the veteran that’s transferring over? I think offensively, it would be hard for me to envision a scenario in which Michigan takes a step back offensively. They should be much better on that side of the ball and, if they are, that could be an incredible matchup there in the early season for the Big Ten and for the SEC.”

This will be only the second time in history that Oklahoma and Michigan have faced off with the first coming in the 1976 Orange Bowl. The Sooners and Wolverines are also scheduled to play each other next year in Ann Arbor.

Hopefully the matchup lives up to the hype, but McElroy certainly seems to think it will. The game will take place Sept. 6 at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium at 6:30 p.m. CT.