Bruce Feldman explains why Big Ten will not be involved in punishing Michigan
There is a whole web extending out from the heart of the Michigan sign-stealing investigation, going out in all different angles. One of them is whether the Big Ten will get involved and issue its own punishment.
It’s something college football insider Bruce Feldman doesn’t see happening. He was on The Rich Eisen Show on Thursday with guest host Suzy Shuster, who asked whether the Big Ten would deliver a punishment or would the NCAA.
“I would be surprised if it was Big Ten,” Feldman said. “Because from from what I’d heard, I don’t know how much the Big Ten has. Whereas the NCAA may be out in front of this a little more. I just would be surprised if the Big Ten was going to shut down a flagship program like that.”
Shuster admitted that it would make sense for the Big Ten to not get involved since the Wolverines are a favorite to both make and potentially win the College Football Playoff, and winning it all would be good for the league’s brand.
Feldman agreed, saying the conference would like to see Michigan in the College Football Playoff National Championship.
“They do,” Feldman said. “It benefits them. It benefits their brand. It just adds so much. I get it. They’re gonna get a lot of pushback from some of the schools in their conference.”
Feldman said he doesn’t think the investigation will wrap up by the end of the season, which will allow Michigan to play in the postseason and the national title game, if they make it that far.
Earlier in the week, ESPN reporter Mark Schlabach hopped on The Paul Finebaum Show and told Finebaum he doesn’t expect the investigation to move quickly either.
“I don’t see how it can move quickly,” Schlabach said. “I think the only way anything would happen to Michigan during this season is if the Big Ten stepped in and did something to the Wolverines out of sportsmanship wise or the integrity of the playing field in the league. I’m sure the Big Ten’s got 13 really upset programs right now who believe that Michigan was illegally scouting them and stealing their signals and that it wasn’t an even playing field when they when Michigan. But you know how the NCAA operates, the enforcement staff, they move at a glacial pace. Let’s say that they worked at hyper-speed and got a notice of allegations to Michigan in mid-November. Michigan has 90 days to respond. That puts it at what? December, January, mid February. The College Football Playoff, the Big Ten Championship Game have come and gone. I’d be shocked if anything comes out.”