With a punishment for Michigan football and Jim Harbaugh Seemingly looming amid sign-stealing allegations against the Wolverines, a hot topic in the college football world has now become a bipartisan political issue.
Two days after Michigan football reportedly received notice of penalty of the Big Ten, two members of the Michigan House of Representatives – Phil Skaggs, D-East Grand Rapids, and Graham Filler, R-Clinton County – wrote a letter to conference commissioner Tony Petitti, pleading for an investigation before sanction the university. .
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“It is absolutely vital that members of the Big Ten Conference receive due process in any investigation, particularly those that may have been initiated by allegations from parties with obvious conflicts of interest,” Skaggs wrote. “We should not punish the dedicated players, coaches and staff of the University of Michigan football program based on incomplete evidence. »
Added Filler: “We know that college football is a topic fraught with emotions on all sides. The important thing here is to let the facts determine the outcome of this investigation.”
The 11 signatories are Democrats Skaggs, Filler, Donovan McKinney (D), Carrie Rheingans (D), Jennifer Conlin (D), Jason Morgan (D), Felicia Brabec (D), Senator Sue Shink (D), Jimmie Wilson Jr. (D), Senator John Cherry (D) and Alabas Farhat (D).
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Of course, the NCAA continues to investigate Michigan, but those gears are notoriously slow-moving. The Big Ten has the authority to impose unilateral sanctions, but it’s a rare occurrence. Adding to the drama of all this is a significant amount of smoke that Michigan would be willing to sue the Big Ten if the sanction were issued before the findings of a thorough investigation.
Michigan (9-0, 6-0 Big Ten) has its sights set on a third straight Big Ten title and a berth in the College Football Playoff, having reached the semifinals in each of the last two seasons.
The Wolverines play No. 9 Penn State on Saturday. After the conference informed Michigan of the sanction, it reportedly expected a response from Michigan Wednesday evening, by ESPN’s Pete Thamel. No sanctions are expected to be imposed immediately, but they could still come before Michigan travels to Happy Valley to face the Nittany Lions in its biggest test so far this year.
