NCAA President Charlie Baker states Michigan won national championship 'fair and square'

NCAA President Charlie Baker recently made some interesting comments about Michigan, saying that the Wolverines won the national championship “fair and square.” He also added that the NCAA’s “unusual decision” to share information on the allegations mid-season should help to eliminate any doubt of legitimacy that anyone may have in the championship.

In October, Baker says that the NCAA received “very compelling” information that Michigan was involved in a sign-stealing scheme. That’s when both Michigan and the Big Ten were notified about the allegations. The Big Ten investigation ultimately led to head coach Jim Harbaugh being suspended for three games. Multiple staffers were also fired.

According to Baker, it was important to make those allegations public. That way everything was on the table and changes would be made during the second half of the season. That way, nobody should have any doubt about what the Wolverines accomplished.

“I don’t regret doing it because sitting on that information, given the comprehensiveness of it, I think we would have put everyone including Michigan in an awful place,” Charlie Baker said Tuesday night. “At the end of the day, no one believes at this point that Michigan didn’t win the national title fair and square. So I think we did the right thing.”

In the second half of the season, Michigan played a much tougher schedule than before the allegations came to light. That included Penn State, Ohio State, Iowa, Alabama, and Washington among others.

Given that the NCAA investigation into Michigan over the sign-stealing scandal is ongoing, it’s interesting that Baker chose to openly make comments like this. It also, seemingly, tips his hand in terms of punishment that the NCAA isn’t interested in stripping the title from Michigan.

That investigation into Michigan by the NCAA is ongoing. However, Charlie Baker didn’t set an expectation for how quickly the investigation will move, only that he hopes to move quickly.

“We do have a series of discussions going on with the infractions folks about whether or not we can’t do something to speed up the pace of our investigations. Certainly in a case like this, we’d like to be able to move a lot more quickly,” Baker said.

“I get that people had a lot on their plates.”

Why Michigan is in a great position to compete for back-to-back national championships

One national championship is great, but two in a row is better.  On3’s Andy Staples certainly thinks that Michigan is in a good position to win back-to-back national championships. In particular, if Michigan can retain its players.

“He’s got a situation where if he comes back, they can run this thing back. This is not a question of will they have the talent. They do lose a lot, but it is amazing when you think about what they’re bringing back. Especially along the defensive line, skill position guys. We’ll see with J.J. [McCarthy],” Staples said.

“Retaining your best players is the best money you can spend in NIL.”