In a story full of twists and turns, perhaps the biggest twist is the one that came on Thursday.
With a hearing pending on Friday morning for Michigan football to work towards getting a temporary restraining order against the Big Ten, that has now been canceled. The Wolverines are now accepting the three-game penalty from the conference for head coach Jim Harbaugh in exchange for the conference shutting down its investigation into the maize and blue as a result of Connor Stalions’ sign-stealing operation.
The announcement came directly from the University of Michigan and Harbaugh apparently agreed to the punishment. This would sideline the Michigan head coach for both the road game at Maryland and the home game against Ohio State on Nov. 25.
This morning, the University, Coach Harbaugh, and the Big Ten resolved their pending litigation. The Conference agreed to close its investigation, and the University and Coach Harbaugh agreed to accept the three-game suspension. Coach Harbaugh, with the University’s support, decided to accept this sanction to return the focus to our student-athletes and their performance on the field. The Conference has confirmed that it is not aware of any information suggesting Coach Harbaugh’s involvement in the allegations. The University continues to cooperate fully with the NCAA’s investigation.”
The Big Ten is now done with its investigation but the NCAA continues its investigation looking into Stalions’ operation.
More on this story as it develops.