Popular analyst stirs negative buzz surrounding Michigan football

The Michigan football program is in the national spotlight right now, though perhaps that is not a very good thing. The alleged illegal sign-stealing scandal, which was reportedly led by Connor Stalions, has the national media stirring all kinds of negative buzz about the Wolverines right now. Included in this media frenzy is popular sports talk host and analyst Stephen A. Smith, who shared some strong thoughts on Jim Harbaugh and his team earlier today.

Popular analyst Stephen A. Smith stirs negative buzz surrounding Michigan football

Today, Stephen A. Smith was joined by SEC Network star Paul Finebaum to talk about Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan football sign-stealing scandal. Smith, who is one of the most well-known ESPN hosts in the nation right now, called for action against the Wolverines — from the Big Ten or otherwise.

“If you’re the Big Ten, here’s what you need to contemplate as your nightmare,” he said on his show, ‘First Take.’ “Suppose Michigan runs the table. Suppose Michigan gets into the College Football Playoff. What do you think people are going to be talking about? You think the national media is going to let this go? You think that you’re going to show up, you’ve got coaches stealing signs, infiltrating other teams on the sideline and stuff like that and you think that you’re going to get to the College Football Playoffs probably at the expense of an Alabama or Washington or somebody like that? We understand that.

“And you think you’re going to get on center stage for a national College Football Playoff, a national championship on the line, and the national media is going to ignore how you possibly got there? … I think it’s a huge miss and a huge mistake on the part of the Big Ten to let this slide,” he added. “You need to bring the momentum, the heavy hand of the conference down upon that program to answer questions and to address this. And dare I say if they don’t give you answers to your liking, you make moves to make sure they don’t represent the conference in the College Football Playoff.”

Jim Harbaugh and the Wolverines have bigger fish to fry then the sign-stealing scandal right now

Despite the national media’s outrage — which has surely been stirring up quite a bit of extra attention from Michigan football fans and even rival fans — the Wolverines are still contending for a national title.

As of last night, Jim Harbaugh and his Wolverines are ranked No. 3 in the College Football Playoff rankings, and there is almost no chance that the Big Ten will step in before the 2023 season comes to a close.

For now, the rest of the season is simple for Michigan football: beat Penn State, beat Ohio State, win the Big Ten, and contend for a national title. After the season, all of this will get resolved, but for the time being, there are bigger goals in mind for the Maize and Blue.

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