I doubt very much it's a bigger cult than in Columbus.
It is hard to believe, isn't it?
Ohio State isn't so much as a cult as it is the largest professional sports team in Ohio that everyone loves, at least in my opinion. Michigan is a different kind of weird.
My family all grew up as Michigan fans - my dad's best friend played football there in the 70s, peak Bo Schembechler - so I've been around it forever. They have a higher than thou aura to them and act as if they are untouchable even in the overwhelming face of them being completely shitty (late in Lloyd Carr's tenure up until they hired Jim Harbaugh was always a fun time with the fam). They always cried foul at the SEC for cheating and then turned around and did it themselves to win a national championship, but acted like they did nothing wrong. They're brainwashed into thinking they're better than everybody at anything.
They love to talk about the history of Michigan and being a Michigan Man. Watch, they'll mess up this hire somehow instead of getting the right guy, they'll get someone who ticks the Michigan Man boxes. Because the last time they swung for the fences outside of their little bubble (RichRod) it failed miserably.