Greg McElroy, Desmond Howard debate whether Big Ten discipline is unfair to Jim Harbaugh

The Big Ten is set to hand out its punishment to Michigan early Friday afternoon, according to ESPN senior writer Heather Dinich.

“The Big Ten has considered a gamut of possibilities, from an indefinite suspension, to something as simple as a public reprimand, to a lofty fine,” Dinich said Friday morning on Get Up. “The latest we heard – yes, suspensions are certainly a possibility, including a three-game suspension [for Jim Harbaugh].”

ESPN analysts Greg McElroy and Desmond Howard joined the show and debated if a punishment to Michigan should be given out now or down the road. Howard believes the Big Ten should be patient with this process.

“The commissioner is actually treating [Michigan] unfairly. He’s circumventing due process by the NCAA,” Howard said. “This would never happen in the SEC. Are you telling me they would do this to Nick Saban and Alabama? Hell no.”

McElroy strongly disagrees with Howard and believes the Big Ten is doing nothing wrong by going ahead and giving out a punishment to the Wolverines.

“How are they being treated unfairly? Like, they’re going through due process at the moment. So I push back on that, to an extent,” Greg McElroy said.

“So now we’re going down the whataboutism? Like, whether or not Jim Harbaugh was responsible or not, sure, I’m not suggesting he was back there and the mastermind behind this grand scheme. I’m not. What I’m suggesting is, they’re not being treated unfairly. They made their bed. A guy that is associated with the Michigan program was seen at other games.”

McElroy added that he believes it is in the best interest of Michigan to go ahead and learn its punishment now and move on.

He feels that the Wolverines have the top team in the country and that this distraction could mess up their perfect season.

“I wouldn’t want to kick this can down the road, because Des, if we look at the game this weekend, this is the first losable game for Michigan. And while this one might not get them, it might get them in a couple of weeks, as the burden of this distraction continues to weigh them down,” McElroy said. “The unexpectedness of what could be coming around the corner is going to impact this team down the road. … The uncertainty is what could ultimately hurt this team. So I think they’ll handle their business on the road at Penn State. I’m just not sold on Penn State. But I am worried about what it might look like down the road a couple of weeks.”