Michigan Football Shockingly Gets High Praise From ESPN Pundit

It was not too long ago that the Michigan Wolverines were in the thick of the sign-stealing allegations, being labeled as “cheaters” and more with massive regular-season games on the horizon. Now, following wins over Penn State, Ohio State, Alabama, and more, Michigan football is 14-0 heading into next Monday’s National Championship Game against Washington, forcing ESPN pundit and SEC Network talking head Paul Finebaum to flip his stance on Michigan.

Michigan football earns praise from ESPN pundit Paul Finebaum

Paul Finebaum appeared to be largely leading the charge against Michigan football amid the sign-stealing allegations; however, the ESPN talking head recently changed his take. Why? Well, the Wolverines knocked off Alabama 27-20 in the Rose Bowl, further proving Finebaum wrong about Jim Harbaugh and his roster — it wasn’t the sign-stealing after all.

Leading up to the title game, Finebaum publicly changed his mind about the prospect of Michigan football winning it all — it won’t be a “tainted” title, he says.

“I would say they (Michigan) won it legitimately, and congratulations to the best team in college football, Hail to the Victors,” Paul Finebaum said on ESPN. “I said a lot of those things (about a tainted title) and I said it right here to you,” Finebaum admitted. “But after spending a week around the Michigan program, I came away with a different view. These young players — (Blake) Corum, (JJ) McCarthy — these guys had nothing to do with whatever happened in this program. They are really the epitome of what you expect a college program to be.”

Finebaum not worried about Jim Harbaugh role in sign-stealing allegations, he says

For nine years now, ESPN pundit Paul Finebaum has kept Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh in his crosshairs — he has targeted Harbaugh and the Wolverines time and time again. While the ESPN host feels that Harbaugh’s time with the Wolverines is coming to an end, he made it clear that he remains uncertain about the coach’s role in the sign-stealing allegations and more. Still, in contrast to the rest of college football, Finebaum doesn’t think that it will matter, so long as the Wolverines win a title.

“As far as Jim Harbaugh, I’m not sure what he did,” Finebaum said. “But in the current state of college football, I’m not sure it’s going to matter to too many people.

“… Alabama put out an urgent call (Monday) night: ‘Hey we just lost we need more money.’ When you juxtapose what’s going on in college football to whatever happened with Michigan, it’s not going to be that important next Monday night if Michigan wins the title.”

Wolverines facing first-ever National Championship Game

The 144th Michigan football team has already made history by winning the Big Ten title (for the third year in a row), making the CFP (again), winning the Rose Bowl, and appearing in the National Championship Game. With all that is going on with the sign-stealing investigation and more, one thing is clear: this team is a title contender, with or without stealing anyone’s signs.

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