The SEC would have quashed this before it came to this.
I'm not an SEC fan but this would have never happened in the SEC. The difference is that the SEC has several schools that are always in the hunt while the B1G has TWO and while the SEC schools would unify to protect the greater good that is not the case in the B1G.
Look back a few years when Saban complained about Georgia cheating by using NIL to land recruits and when Kirby clapped back to the tune of "do you really want to go there, I used to work with you, I know where the bodies are buried" (paraphrasing) guess what happened? It was stopped. The SEC said DO NOT and it was dropped.
There are 12 B1G schools filled with jealousy, hate and envy against Michigan in particular due to their recent success and are more interested in spite and revenge than the B1G as a whole.
Every program worth a shit pushes the boundaries of the rules, some are just better at it and in this case it seems Michigan was just better at sign stealing than the others and now they're mad about it.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:24 PM ^
At this point, all I care about is that they fight back (and seem to be doing so).
November 7th, 2023 at 3:45 PM ^
The only OUTRAGE!!!! there would be in the SEC would be from fans and AD's towards their own coaches for not keeping ups with the Jones'es.
The conversation would be...."Why the hell is Bama scouting us like this and we are still using game film". This is embarrassing! Fix it, and scout better!
November 7th, 2023 at 4:49 PM ^
One thing I know for certain...if it were the SEC Paul Finebaum would proclaim it great for college football.
November 7th, 2023 at 7:49 PM ^
If it was Bama, he'd be so hot and turned on.....he'd continue performing fellatio on Saban, which would be just a normal day underneath Sabans desk
November 8th, 2023 at 9:29 AM ^
Microphones picked up Saban telling a LSU player "you would play a lot more on our team" after their game last week. Believe that is called tampering. Two Pro and a Cup of Joe have a good segment on how tampering is the worst thing going on in CFB and is the most prevalent.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:25 PM ^
Fuck the big ten. Leave for the ACC immediately. Does anyone know what we would be liable for if we broke our contract with the BIG?
November 7th, 2023 at 2:27 PM ^
I don't think we would want in the ACC there media deal blows. honestly SEC or independent and get our own media deal like ND
November 7th, 2023 at 2:30 PM ^
I think they get to renegotiate if they add members. But I think the Pac2 is a very underrated temporary option
November 7th, 2023 at 3:10 PM ^
The current Big Ten payout is about $60 million. The current ACC payout is about $40 million.
Remove Michigan from the Big Ten and add Michigan to the ACC: More than 1/6 of the big ten value is lost, and that value moves to the ACC. That's all that has to be true for the money to work out. And it is 100% true that Michigan is worth more than 1/6 of the Big Ten's current TV arrangement.
The proof of this is the fact that Michigan has been on prime time games for NBC vs, Indiana and Purdue. There is not much moving the needle in the Big Ten other that M, OSU, Penn State.
The fact that I live in Florida and would be able to go to some games in person is just a side benefit.
November 7th, 2023 at 4:19 PM ^
ACC hockey is awesome!
November 7th, 2023 at 2:26 PM ^
The SEC is rolling around on the ground laughing like a pack of delirious Hyenas that tapped into the dentists nitrous.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:28 PM ^
Recent photo from $EC League Meetings:
November 7th, 2023 at 2:27 PM ^
Even if I'm being as fair as possible to Tony Petitti, his lack of experience--both in this job and in college sports in general--are a major issue here. He seemingly has no ability to put the impassioned screeching of various coaches and ADs in context. Doesn't help that he has extensive background in Major League Baseball, either, since that's the most counterproductively pearl-clutching of the major pro sports leagues
November 7th, 2023 at 9:32 PM ^
I think this right here plays a gigantic part in where this currently resides. Tony "Tiny Panini" Petitti is in way over his head right now.
November 8th, 2023 at 9:34 AM ^
Petitti is in way over his head. Big 10 is a laughing stock in CFB right now.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:30 PM ^
Maybe Michigan should see if they need a new member.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:34 PM ^
I'm not even sure we're better at the sign stealing.
We just seem to be better at football.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:52 PM ^
If Michigan was better at it they wouldn't have been caught. Instead, they hired a giant moron who did it so poorly you'd think he was trying to get caught.
November 7th, 2023 at 3:00 PM ^
Hmmm, almost too obvious wasn't it.... ;)
November 7th, 2023 at 3:15 PM ^
Right? My father and I were discussing this situation this morning. Call him a tinfoil hatter, but he said he wouldn't be surprised if this guy was a plant of some sort. As crazy as this whole situation is, especially with CS on the CMU sidelines, I'm beginning to wonder if the old man might be right. 🤔
November 7th, 2023 at 7:11 PM ^
I wouldn't be shocked if we found out that "just for men" planted people that approached Stalions and put it into his head that this was a good idea. Who knows?..for all we know CS current girlfriend is an OSU mole or the guy on his softball team that cuts his grass on weekends...
All I know is this...OSU faithful wasn't going to sit around while we annually...pushed their shit all they way in...without a fight of some kind.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:35 PM ^
Pac-2 take over.....
November 7th, 2023 at 2:36 PM ^
If we were good at sign stealing, this would have never came out.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:37 PM ^
I had a similar thought when this all first came out. The SEC probably would've strangled this in the cradle.
I also am increasingly favoring the argument that we should at least consider what leaving looks like. Can't get railroaded by your own conference, whether by fellow schools or conference admin, let alone both.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:40 PM ^
I hear you, but I will be shocked if it is only the “Little Twelve” behind this. Big Two Number Two is definitely in the middle of it.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:58 PM ^
Emphasis on "number two"
November 7th, 2023 at 3:09 PM ^
Definitely intended. Thanks for the visual support.
November 7th, 2023 at 3:20 PM ^
Definitely spearheaded by OSU, but for the rest, this would be a way to de-risk the season's revenues: knock out Michigan before The Game so that OSU can cruise to the CFP. Letting the games play out risks having PSU win the B1G East tie-breaker and the conference missing out on the CFP payday entirely, should Georgia, UW, FSU, and Texas all cruise (or if Bama beats Georgia in the SECCG and two of the other three win out).
/removes tinfoil hat
November 7th, 2023 at 2:41 PM ^
I'm not sure. The whole point of this farce is to push Harbaugh out because Big 10 coaches are butthurt. If Harbaugh caused butthurt in the SEC, they might ban together to push him out. Nobody likes to be butthurt.
November 7th, 2023 at 3:05 PM ^
I think Saban caused a lot of that in the SEC and, he’s still there.
November 7th, 2023 at 7:46 PM ^
Saban made that conference A LOT of money.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:43 PM ^
The SEC is run by a guy who was a conference commissioner for a number of years before working for the SEC for over decade. You're talking about a guy with 20 years of experience in college athletics.
Pettiti and Warren? Not so much. But hey, look at those TV dollars rolling in for Purdue, Nebraska and bunch of other schools that most of America don't want on their TV screens...unless they're playing Michigan (or anOSU).
November 7th, 2023 at 3:12 PM ^
The SEC has Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Miss State, South Carolina, also a bunch of schools that most of America don't want on their TV screens... unless they're playing one of the big names. So not much difference between the bottom feeders in the two conferences. Missouri-Arkansas is probably not drawing huge interest outside of those two states.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:46 PM ^
Here's who hates us.
OSU (obviously), Rutgers (Schiano was w/ Day and Urban), Maryland (our boy Gattis is their OC), Wisconsin (Fickell is an OSU guy), MSU (obviously), Illinois (Bert is an ass and stole our signs last year), Purdue (Walters is a Bert guy), PSU (Frames has to be pissed that he keeps losing to us).
That leaves IU, NW, Iowa, Minny, Nebraska without obvious hate, but if I'm a coach/ AD at one of those schools and I can take out one of the top 3 teams, I'm all for it.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:48 PM ^
To let it get this far and into public is an embarrassment to the conference. The SEC would have at least handled it behind closed doors and on the football field like adults. Can we just all man up for a change?
November 7th, 2023 at 4:47 PM ^
Agree, the fact so much info has been leaked from within the conference shows a complete lake of control and leadership. It's kind of the perfect storm with a new commish who appears to be a deer in the headlights to this point. Also, there are quite a few new coaches to the league who maybe do not grasp the impact of their actions on the big picture.
I wonder what kind of contract Michigan could negotiate as an independent like ND, anywhere near the value?
November 7th, 2023 at 2:48 PM ^
This is a good point. For all the pseudo griping the SEC coaches do about each other they would never collude to take down Alabama or Georgia like this.
November 7th, 2023 at 2:51 PM ^
I agree 100%, this has gotten ridiculous. Head over to the SEC and be done with all this BS. It's not going to stop as long as Coach is still there, the jealous arseholes
November 7th, 2023 at 2:59 PM ^
This is 100% true. Sankey, and even Delaney, would never allow this. The conference's role in situations like this is to allow only one concept to be visible: that all the kids are playing fair in the sandbox. Fanning the flames of 13 kids simultaneously attacking one is not only a bad look, which will eventually be obvious, but is also counterproductive to the humungous tv deals in place.
The Big Ten is being absolutely idiotic, particularly in the face of glaring and widely distributed evidence that basically every team in the conference is pushing the limits of sportsmanship to decipher opponent signs.
November 7th, 2023 at 3:05 PM ^
I have to assume Ono told the Big 10 about the information Michigan had on the collusion regarding signs. Sankey would have got on his conference call with the coaches and ADs and asked "How are these cell phone recordings of your signs any more advantageous than this shared spreadsheet you're all contributing too and passing around?... We are done here".
November 7th, 2023 at 3:06 PM ^
I live in Florida Gator land and I just commented how the Sankey would never do this to Bama or Georgia. Down here it's still north v south.
The south stick together the north try to kill each other.
November 7th, 2023 at 3:07 PM ^
SEC is like a damn cult and the Bigten has always ate its own. NCAA tournament, for example, you’ll hear SEC SEC when their 9th placed team is playing. The Bigten is always hoping their team makes it past where the other bigten teams make it to. Their on going slogan is “it just means more” and I can’t think of a truer statement from the universities to the teams to the fans. When ESPN partnered up with the SEC it just made it that much worse.
The one question I’ve always had is why do people have it out for Michigan so much when Ohio St is just as successful of a program overall? The only thing I could figure out is that they operate like an SEC program. Notre Dame would be another example of historically successful program that would never get dragged through this level of shitstorm.
November 7th, 2023 at 3:22 PM ^
Agree. Everyone has dirt there. They also don’t get investigated by media in the same way. They throw the occasional press conference brushback and that’s it.
Auburn beat everyone and won a national title with Cam Newton, of whom there was documented evidence *at the time* that his recruitment was a serious rules violation. Was there a conference outcry? No.
We all know why. And so did they.
November 7th, 2023 at 3:24 PM ^
oh, they've been squashing shit 10x this bad for decades.
November 7th, 2023 at 3:30 PM ^
Does every thought on this require a new post?
I can’t find worthy posts quickly enough before they get buried by these snowflakes.
November 7th, 2023 at 4:09 PM ^
"quickly enough". Lol. You left out a TL:DR in your comment.
November 7th, 2023 at 4:22 PM ^
That's the difference between the SEC and the B1G. They have a sense of solidarity (which has some unsettling "war of northern aggression" and "the South will rise again" undertones, but that's a separate subject), whereas we all hate each other and wouldn't throw a fellow B1G member a hose if its house was on fire.
On the positive side, that's also what makes our rivalries so much more intense than theirs.
November 7th, 2023 at 4:29 PM ^
I'd rather not have the SEC on my side.
November 7th, 2023 at 4:49 PM ^
no, they wouldn't.