What’s been a weird past few days continues to grow weirder.
Michigan football is under (a very public) investigation as the NCAA leaked info to the media about the Wolverines allegedly stealing signs from its opponents.
The practice itself isn’t illegal, but the NCAA is alleging Michigan sent staffers to games of future opponents, which is illegal, and is also investigating staffer Connor Stalions as a person of interest, noting that his computer is of particular intrigue to the governing body.
Apparently, after sharing the investigation with the Big Ten, the conference let Michigan’s next opponent, Michigan State, know that the Wolverines are under investigation. And that’s when things get weird.
According to The Athletic’s Brendan Quinn (subscription required), MSU considered canceling Saturday night’s game in light of the new information.
Upon learning of the pending investigation, Michigan State initially warned the Big Ten it might consider not playing Saturday’s game out of concern for health and safety for its players, according to two sources briefed on those conversations. On Thursday morning, MSU confirmed it will play the game. Michigan’s upcoming opponents were notified of the allegations and games are expected to take place as planned, an industry source said Thursday.
Let’s be clear here: That would have just been a cop-out. Every team in college football is at least attempting to steal signs — it’s part of the game. As we’ve reported, quite frequently, on the “Locked On Wolverines” podcast, Michigan’s defensive signs were well-known by opponents dating to 2018 — which became even clearer in 2019 and 2020. Michigan doesn’t need MSU’s signals in order to line up across from it to be able win on a down-by-down basis.
What MSU was really considering was this: could it get out of what’s expected to be a drubbing in front of what’s likely to be an embarrassing display of Michigan fans taking over Spartan Stadium and get away with it?