Michigan football: Big Ten not expected to act within next ’48 hours’
According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, the Big Ten won’t try to suspend Michigan football head coach Jim Harbaugh in the next 48 hours.
Things are getting interesting in the fight between the Michigan football program and the Big Ten. There were reports over the weekend that Michigan would respond to a suspension of Jim Harbaugh by taking legal action.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel echoed that in his latest report on X, which said not to expect any punishment from the Big Ten in the next 48 hours, which is different from what rivals were saying all weekend as speculation ramped up about a suspension.
On Friday, there were rumors that Jim Harbaugh might be unable to coach against Purdue. But after the Santa Ono letter to the Big Ten was released, it was clear that Michigan was ready to fight back if need be.
Don’t expect any action by the Big Ten in the Michigan sign stealing case for at least the next 48 hours, as the league’s sportsmanship rules allow for a “reasonable” chance to respond to an institution or individual. Sources have told ESPN that they’ll be a legal battle if…
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) November 6, 2023
A suspension of Jim Harbaugh requires some sort of investigation of due process and the suggestion of this really seems to upset rivals.
Heck, even Thamel suggests the reason a suspension won’t be in the next 48 hours is that even a two-game suspension by the Big Ten would require a “reasonable” response time for Michigan.
That seems like something nobody (outside of Michigan) wants to tolerate, which tells you all that you need to know about this being a witch hunt to get Jim Harbaugh.
According to Thamel’s reporting, even if a two-game suspension does come down, Michigan football can fight it and there is a strong suggestion that it would.
That makes it seem likely that Jim Harbaugh will be on the field on Saturday for the top-10 showdown against Penn State, which is the most important game of the season since winning the Big Ten title might not be possible if the Wolverines lose on Saturday.
Next. 5 things we learned in win over Purdue. dark
At least not without Penn State losing another game due to a three-way tiebreaker between Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State that could favor the Nittany Lions if there is a three-way tie at 11-1.