FOX Sports college football analyst Joel Klatt brought his live show to Ann Arbor this week, drawing a sellout crowd to The Circ Bar ahead of Michigan’s home matchup against No. 11 Oklahoma on Saturday. It marked the third-ever live taping of “The Joel Klatt Show.”
Klatt was joined on stage by former Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops, FOX Sports’ Jenny Taft, and “Big Noon Kickoff” personality Dave Portnoy. The group covered a range of topics, from a possible expansion of the College Football Playoff to 24 teams to expectations for Saturday’s game, and closed the show with lie-detector tests for Klatt and Portnoy.
Portnoy’s All-Time Michigan Team
Portnoy, a vocal Michigan fan, used the show to name his all-time Wolverines roster, pulling from multiple eras of Michigan football, including the program’s 2023 national championship team and its 1997 title squad.
- Quarterback: J.J. McCarthy
- Wide receivers: Desmond Howard, Anthony Carter
- Running back: Tim Biakabutuka
- Defense: Charles Woodson
Portnoy also addressed his past criticism of former Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh, who left the program after leading it to an 86-25 overall record, a 60-17 mark in Big Ten play, three straight conference titles from 2021 to 2023, and an undefeated 15-0 national championship season in his final year.
“Once McCarthy came in, everything changed. Hand up, I wanted Harbaugh gone,” Portnoy said. “It was every year we were getting drummed. I bet there are a lot of silent Michigan fans out there that are like, ‘Yeah, maybe we thought it was time for a change.’ There were some down years.”
Stoops on Playoff Expansion
Stoops, who coached Oklahoma from 1999 to 2016 and finished with a 191-48 record, two Big 12 titles and the 2000 BCS national championship, weighed in on the prospect of an expanded 24-team playoff format.
“I’ve been a proponent of less playoff games, but these games are going to go away. So then that would be the reason to keep the 24 teams in the playoff,” Stoops said. “Because now you can come up to Michigan, things don’t go the right way, you can still recover from it.”
Polygraph Segment
The show closed with polygraph-style questioning for Klatt and Portnoy. Asked directly whether he thought Michigan could beat Oklahoma on Saturday, Klatt answered plainly: “Yes.”
Portnoy’s turn on the polygraph took a different direction, with Taft asking him about Rutgers’ Week 1 upset loss to UMass rather than focusing on Saturday’s Michigan-Oklahoma matchup.
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