Michigan football program should worry about more than the NCAA

More reports on the Michigan football program and its alleged sign-stealing scandal broke this afternoon, with ESPN reporting that Connor Stalions has purchased tickets at 11 Big Ten schools over the past few years. While an NCAA investigation into the Wolverines and Jim Harbaugh is not great news for anyone in Ann Arbor, the team has more to worry about than the NCAA, seeing as reports confirmed that the Big Ten Conference is as unhappy about everything as anyone.

Michigan football program should worry about more than the NCAA

With the NCAA slowly losing its grip on college football, coupled with the rule book’s loose definitions and plethora of loopholes on these infractions, its investigation into Michigan football may not be the most of the team’s concern right now.

While vacating wins, scholarship reduction, and even the health penalty are all hot topics on social media, they do not seem very realistic right now — not with the information that we have available, that is. Still, seeing as the NCAA finds itself in a grey area right now, there is another entity that Michigan football needs to be on the lookout for: the Big Ten Conference league office.

Keep an eye on how the Big Ten Conference responds

The Big Ten is reportedly unhappy with everything that has unfolded regarding Michigan’s sign-stealing scandal — per Pete Thamel‘s newest report — which may become a bigger issue for the Maize and Blue than anything seeing as the conference has legitimate weight to strip Big Ten titles and more.

“Officials around the Big Ten are upset, according to sources, as allegations of this type of coordinated and orchestrated capturing of signals looms as distinctly different allegations than the gamesmanship of attempting to decode signals from across the sideline (in-game stealing is not prohibited under NCAA rules),” ESPN’s report reads.

So, with the rules unclear and the NCAA steadily losing its control over college football, Michigan football may be in better shape with them than with the Big Ten Conference, depending on how the investigations play out from here. If nothing else, it’s something worth keeping an eye on.

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