Stephen A Smith, Paul Finebaum get in heated debate about proposed CFP suspension for Michigan

The latest development in Michigan‘s sign-stealing investigation surfaced Wednesday, as the Big Ten Conference now awaits a response from the program regarding their notice of discipline by the end of the day.

Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti and the conference are expected to hand down a punishment following Michigan’s response, which will more than likely involve a suspension of head coach Jim Harbaugh.

With potential punishment looming for the Wolverines, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, Paul Finebaum, and Chris ‘Mad Dog’ Russo debated on ‘First Take’ about what a rightful punishment for the Wolverines should be. With smith doubling down on his previous take that Michigan should be banned from the College Football Playoff until the investigation is complete.

“In all seriousness, all joking aside, I respectfully disagree with you Paul Finebaum and I’m not trying to throw the players under the bus,” Smith said. “I understand that they’re victims in all of this, they’re not culprits, they don’t have anything to do with this. They followed the instructions of their coaching and coaching staff and they went out and played … But in the end if they were positioned to have an unfair advantage over the opposition because they knew what plays to anticipate and what plays to call, it’s still unfair to the players from other teams. You’ve got one loss teams, Alabama, Oregon, Texas okay?”

"I think [Jim] Harbaugh should be suspended indefinitely, not allowing him to coach another game, and especially in the playoffs if this investigation continues down the current path. I feel very strongly that the team should not be kept out."

—@finebaum pic.twitter.com/l4PBCKZLtX

— First Take (@FirstTake) November 8, 2023

Michigan currently ranks No. 3 in the latest College Football Playoff Rankings, which would make them eligible to play in the playoffs if they started today. And despite Smith’s attitudes, CFP executive director Bill Hancock previously made it clear that Michigan’s off-the-field accusations regarding stealing signs does not impact their raking in the College Football Playoff, saying the committee ‘makes its judgments based on what happened on the field’.

“Here’s where the biggest thing comes into play, what I’m trying to do Paul is emphasize the importance of expediting a conclusion to the investigation,” Smith continued. “If you allow anybody in college football to slow roll this process, and it’s open-ended, there’s no conclusion Doggy, there’s no conclusion Paul Finebaum and the Michigan Wolverines go into the College Football Playoffs with this specter hovering over their university and indeed they may have been assisted, then you’ve got a problem. Now we’ve got a College Football Playoff where we’re talking about the potential of somebody having cheated their way there.”

“All I’m calling for is a conclusion,” Smith added. “Tell me the crime wasn’t big enough, tell me there’s not enough evidence, tell me that you’ve absolved them or exonerated them from the level of guilt that’s been attached to them and I’m good with it. What can’t happen is we don’t know, we’re still looking into this matter, but they’re in the playoffs. That’s bad, that cannot happen. That’s all I’m saying.”

There’s no question that it would be chaotic and problematic Wolverines participated in and were successful in this season’s College Football Playoff and later all their sign-stealing allegations rang true following the investigation. But Finebaum believes in regards to punishment, Harbaugh is the one that should face the most consequences.

“To me the culprit is the most obvious one and that’s Jim Harbaugh,” Finebaum said. “So Stephen A, I think Harbaugh should be suspended indefinitely not allowing him to coach another game and especially the playoffs if this investigation continues down the current path. But I feel very strongly that the team should not be kept out because otherwise you’re really getting too far ahead of this process.”

A two-game suspension and a $10,000 fine will likely be handed down to Harbaugh following Michigan’s response to their notice of discipline from the Big Ten according to standard policy. The number of games could increase with permission from an executive board, which is something Finebaum would clearly like to see based on being asked if he agrees with Smith’s take furthermore.

“I don’t. I think he has part of it right, something needs to happen. But I feel badly about penalizing the players on this team who probably had no idea what was going on, they may have benefited, but they had no idea,” Finebaum said. “To me the culprit is the most obvious one and that’s Jim Harbaugh, so Stephen A, I think Harbaugh should be suspended indefinitely, not allowing him to coach another game, and especially in the playoffs if this investigation continues down the current path. But I feel very strongly that the team should not be kept out.”

There’s no question that Michigan’s sign-stealing accusations have come with plenty of discourse regarding what a proper punishment should look like as the Wolverines’ investigation continues, and it will be surely intriguing to see how the NCAA, the Big Ten, and the College Football Playoff Committee decides to navigate through these convoluted waters.

“Stephen A, you’re not completely wrong in your intent, but I think punishing the team is totally wrong,” Finebaum concluded.