Michigan Football: The Funniest Possible Outcome Is Playing Out

I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself here, because the Big Ten title game still needs to be played on Saturday, but I feel pretty good about where things stand for the time being. A few weeks ago, when Michigan football head coach Jim Harbaugh was suspended mid-flight en route to Michigan‘s game at No. 10 Penn State, I had the following thought: the funniest possible outcome here is for Sherrone Moore to beat Penn State and Ohio State, Harbaugh comes back for the title game, and (Big Ten Conference Commissioner) Tony Petitti being forced to hand Jim the trophy as Maize and Blue confetti falls from the sky. Well, tomorrow, I might get my wish.

Michigan football competing for third straight Big Ten title

I am not going to get into whether or not Tony Petitti was in the right when he suspended Jim Harbaugh from the sidelines for Michigan’s most important three games of the 2023 season. There are too many conflicting opinions, and to be quite honest, whether or not Petitti was right doesn’t really matter right now.

What does matter, however, is that Sherrone Moore went 4-0 as head coach this year — most importantly, winning games at No. 10 Penn State, at Maryland, and against No. 2 Ohio State. When Harbaugh was first suspended, I wasn’t sure if Moore would be able to get the job done, though, in recent weeks, I have seen him out-coach three of the top full-time head coaches in the Big Ten Conference.

Tony Petitti may have to hand Jim Harbaugh the conference championship trophy

Now, I will also mention that Tony Petitti was not in Ann Arbor last weekend, which I found odd. Why would the conference’s commissioner not be at the Big Ten’s biggest game of the year? One which decided the East Division champion, the Big Ten title game layout, and likely the conference’s CFP representative this year? Because he was not there last week, I am not 100% sure that he will be in Indianapolis for the title game tomorrow — but I am very hopeful that he is.

Why? Because as I mentioned, I have been hoping for this for weeks now. Jim Harbaugh is finally back from suspension just in time to lead his Wolverines to a third straight Big Ten title game victory and College Football Playoff berth.

I doubt that Tony Petitti thought Harbaugh and the Wolverines would get this far, but they did, and the day of reckoning has come: Petitti likely has to stand on stage in front of a crowd of Michigan football fans and hand Harbaugh the conference championship.

If the Wolverines do win tomorrow, they punch their ticket to a third straight College Football Playoff, likely heading to the Rose Bowl to face either Florida State or the PAC-12 Champion.

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