NCAA president says Michigan won national title ‘fair and square’ amid sign-stealing allegations
The Michigan Wolverines went 15-0 and won the College Football Playoff National Championship Game earlier this week, which to many would seem like a great success.
The team, including head coach Jim Harbaugh, his players, and staff, are undoubtedly happy with the accomplishment. It’s evident that Michigan’s “true blue” supporters are also quite thrilled. However, there will be a sizable group of doubters who want to place an asterisk next to Michigan’s amazing season.
They have cause to be skeptical given the accusations of sign-stealing that resulted in Harbaugh’s three-game ban and the resignation of Connor Stalions, the recruiting analyst who was purportedly behind the scheme. Oh, and there was Chris Partridge, the linebackers coach, who was “relieved of his duties” and was reportedly trying to hide what the Stalions had done.
While there is a lot of smoke and fury surrounding Michigan, NCAA president Charlie Baker is not one of the doubters. Despite the fact that his group is still looking into Michigan, he felt the matter was serious enough earlier in the year to share some of the investigation’s findings with Michigan and the Big Ten league.
Now, that same man is celebrating Michigan’s win of the national title. Why?
Baker recently stated to reporters that he believes Michigan’s path became legitimate as a result of the NCAA’s probe into the program and the revelations revealed during that inquiry.
According to Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger, Baker stated, “I don’t regret doing it because sitting on that information given the comprehensiveness of it, I think we would have put everyone, including Michigan, in an awful place.” “As it was, it was in the open and people could choose to change it or not. Ultimately, nobody still holds the opinion that Michigan did not win the national championship in a fair and impartial manner.
Although Baker referred to his choice as “unusual,” he believes it was the right one since it revealed Stalions’ plot and, in a sense, gave the Wolverines the opportunity to win things the proper way going forward.
Up to that moment, Michigan had an 8-0 record even after the Stallions tale was made public.
The possibility that this could have an impact on game results is one of the reasons I felt it was crucial to discuss it with Michigan and the Big Ten. At the conclusion of the season, I don’t think it did,” Baker remarked.
