NCAA, Michigan and Wolverines
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For Michigan fans, the pride of the championship remains. For rivals and neutral observers, the achievement carries an invisible asterisk. It is this asterisk, not the $20 million fine, that defines the punishment. Michigan will always be remembered as a champion, but in the same breath, it will be remembered as a program that cheated.
Before beating Washington in the CFP National Championship game, Michigan beat Alabama in the CFP semifinal at the Rose Bowl 27-20 in overtime. An errant snap by former Crimson Tide center Seth McLaughlin allowed the Wolverines to stop Alabama on a fourth-and-goal Jalen Milroe run play at the 3-yard line to secure the win.
The NCAA report outlines Connor Stalions standing in disguise on the Central Michigan sideline for the 2023 opener at Michigan State: "Stalions attended that game in part to decipher Michigan State’s signals, but also to help a Central Michigan staff member with play calling."
Michigan learned its fate this week after the NCAA revealed its full punishment for the Wolverines football program in the wake of the sign-stealing controversy
Chris Partridge, the former Michigan assistant coach recently let go amid the university’s NCAA compliance scrutiny, celebrated his name being “cleared” on Friday.
Connor Stalions' legal team predictably has some complaints about the NCAA's sanctions against him and the Michigan football program. A day after the NCAA announced it was fining the Wolverines an eight-figure sum and hitting Stalions with an eight-year show-cause penalty,