That is very much against the spirit of the NCAA rule that outlaws staff members scouting opponents in-person. Petitti has evidence that Stalions sent people to dozens of games featuring future Michigan opponents and had them take video of the sidelines. Recall how SEC commissioner Greg Sankey responded when Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher and Alabama coach Nick Saban were publicly feuding about Saban's allegation that the Aggies were buying recruits using name, image and likeness? Sankey issued a public reprimand of both coaches and silenced them. Think about it: Can you imagine this happening in the Southeastern Conference? A commissioner bowing to the Mississippi States and Kentuckys to take down Georgia or Alabama in the middle of a championship chase? Or even acting based off pressure from Athens or Tuscaloosa directed toward the other school's questionable operations in any capacity? Hey, maybe they’ll bring a much-needed breath of fresh air. USC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon are walking into a Midwestern mud fight. The reports that Ohio State and Rutgers fed Michigan’s signs to Purdue before last year’s Big Ten championship game could be just the beginning. Expect calculated leaks from Michigan, attacking its rivals’ pristine glass houses. The courts will just be one forum for battle. Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh watches from the sideline during a win over Michigan State last month. The discovery period would be delicious to those who crave college sports depravity - and damaging to all involved, including the 13 other universities that pushed Petitti into a corner. The lawyers will argue that the Big Ten did not have grounds to utilize a vague “sportsmanship” policy in its handbook to punish Michigan without due process. Michigan and the Big Ten are going to battle in court, and the school has retained Williams & Connolly, LLP, one of the nation’s most ruthless and successful litigation firms. The nation’s oldest and most pompous power conference never will be the same again. They left a Pac-12 that no longer could compete in the college sports arms race for a Big Ten that’s choosing to wage war on itself. It appears the Trojans and Bruins left one mess of a conference for a wealthier mess of a conference. But today, I am observing the moment from the perspective of USC and UCLA, who are about to join a conference that is not going to resemble the one they signed away their futures to in June 2022. Read more: Commentary: In Michigan sign-stealing saga, NCAA calling a play USC should recognizeĪs a proud Michigan alum, I have a lot of feelings about all of this. The Big Ten just jumped ahead of the NCAA, which has rules directing its lengthy investigative process, to punish one of its two bell-cow programs in the midst of an unbeaten season. He may be reinstated in time for the next two games at Maryland and against Ohio State.Įither way, we are witnessing a completely unprecedented moment in college sports history. Michigan filed a request for injunctive relief, but its hearing was scheduled for this upcoming Friday, forcing Harbaugh to miss Saturday's game against the Nittany Lions. The Big Ten opens its 2021 season on Saturday as Illinois hosts Nebraska.But Petitti waited until less than 24 hours before the third-ranked Wolverines - the best collection of Michigan football players since the 1997 national championship team and possibly ever - play a defining road game against 10th-ranked Penn State to levy a suspension he clearly has been mulling for weeks. “The Big 12 is on an island and it is sinking by the hour,” Finebaum said on Monday. Oregon and USC would move the Big Ten to 16 teams, which would equal that of the SEC with with the Longhorns and the Sooners.Īs for what’s left of the Big 12, Finebaum didn’t express much optimism. “This is really about power and leverage and television,” Finebaum said of the proposed alliance. This is all in response to the SEC’s recent addition of Texas and Oklahoma, which will happen by 2025 at the latest. The College Football Playoff is expected to expand to 12 teams, but the exact format and timing of that change is still being debated. The Big Ten, Pac-12 and ACC are expected to soon finalize an “alliance” that would theoretically give those schools a voting majority over the SEC on issues such as College Football Playoff expansion. For Oregon and USC, it would give them security in being apart of a stronger conference moving forward.
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