Pete Thamel reveals the 'million-dollar question' NCAA must answer about its new Michigan investigation

While Ohio State and Penn State are set to play one of the biggest games of the season Saturday, it is their Big Ten East Division rival Michigan that is dominating the 48 hours ahead of the game. That is because the Wolverines are once again under investigation by the NCAA, this time for the serious allegation of illegal sign stealing.

The allegations claim that Michigan has been operating an illicit sign stealing program that involves sending a staffer to scout teams in-person, which is not allowed by the NCAA.

ESPN insider Pete Thamel appeared on The Pat McAfee Show on Friday and told the panel that how the investigation came to be is still unknown.

“The million dollar question, and I’ve talked to a lot of people in the last 24 hours, that no one knows the answer to is how did not only the NCAA become aware of this, but how did they become so aware of it they launched an investigation — when this is something that’s been complained about for years — and the Big Ten got a glimpse of their information and sounded the alarm and said publicly, we’re going to take our second biggest brand — not our first biggest brand — and we’re gonna put them on public notice,” Thamel said.

Thamel is correct that there have been a lot of quickly moving parts to this story over the past day. The Big Ten announced the investigation Thursday after the news was first reported by Yahoo! Sports. Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel, Jim Harbaugh and Harbaugh’s lawyer all released statements. ESPN then reported that Michigan analyst Connor Stalions was at the center of the investigation.

But what was the spark that created the investigation is still a mystery.

“I don’t know how this information emerged,” Thamel said. “For there to be a preponderance of information, it’ll be fascinating to find out where it came from.”