Get it behind you. 

Most of all, will the conference continue to gin up penny-ante violations then gang up on Michigan every time the football team is good, and what does this mean for the conference's future and Michigan's commitment to it? 

Hello:?

I don't want Big Ten refs officiating that OSU/UM game. Given thid statement, i already see the fix is in. Im still wanr to know why he got 3 games when 2 was the standard? Why did all this seem to come out during the time that would line up where he could be suspended for PSU and OSU? Did Big Ten know Michigan would accept the 3 games which is why they didn't go with an indefinite suspension? 

Michigan got two things of note out of this.  (Harbaugh gets the B1G's acknowledgement that nothing ties him to the allegation.)

First, the B1G investigation is closed.  That means nothing else is coming down this year.  The NCAA isn't going to come up with anything soon, and even if they do Michigan will have 90 days to respond.  So Michigan ends the distraction and the team knows exactly where they stand.

Second, the B1G is not banning Michigan from the B1G championship game, and hence the playoffs.  (No way the CFP was going to take a 12-0 Michigan which was banned from a championship because of its coach's actions, over an 12-1 OSU B1G championship.)

I think that settlement was a combination of Michigan's lawyers telling them "Look, the TRO is a long shot to get resolved before the suspension ends, because while the legal arguments are strong, the wheels of justice always grind slowly." and the B1G bullying Michigan by threatening to take away the championship they can still earn on the field.

It doesn't matter that they're full of it.  It doesn't matter that they're petty, deluded, obnoxious and incompetent.  The picture I see is that the B1G could block Michigan from its special season, and the law wouldn't give them any recourse.  Michigan looked at that and settled.

I am sure the press will accept our noble position here and cease piling on. Nobody in their right mind would see this as saying yes we did it, I am sure. That ought to inspire the team now that the taint has been thoroughly removed and all achievements going forward will be cheered. Yay.

It's really no surprise that just like everything else in this stupid scandal, this particular turn in the narrative feels very and quite excessively dumb.

Forgive me if this is obvious, I read all the comments and didn't see anything.

What significance does Brad Robbins have? Like, why choose that picture for the header? Or am I way overthinking this?

We'll never know what Harbaugh discussed with the attorneys, unless Harbaugh decides to speak about it sometime. The lawyers are bound not to discuss it by the attorney-client privilege. What matters is the team knows what the penalty against Harbaugh is for certain, and can use it for motivation because the players have every right to believe he is personally blameless.

I disagree with people who make assumptions about the settlement based upon body language or any other guess.  Regardless of the facts of the matter, what we do know is litigation including appeals could easily drag on for months and maybe into next season, keeping everyone on edge and possibly affecting recruiting. Plenty of cases are resolved purely because of possibly adverse impacts which are unrelated to the merits, so everyone with their "educated" guesses should just stand down.

Meanwhile, as this site has pointed out, Michigan has to get better at vetting candidates for employment before hiring them. If it does this badly when hiring athletic personal, I can only imagine the potential messes that could be created in the academic area. I think the Regents and faculty are even more proud of the university's academic standing than the football team's record. I'm old enough to have attended a meeting when Canham was picked to be AD. I could never imagine him being this sloppy about hiring. He certainly wasn't when he picked Bo.  

Seems like one or more of the following happened:

1) Harbaugh starting seeing this as a distraction that hurts the chances of beating OSU

2) The legal team figured their odds of winning were low (the timing doesn't seem to fit, but maybe they got more info)

3) Michigan got some type of concession

4) somebody did something stupid 

15 years ago Rich Rod was under contract at WVa and we stole himaway and it was a little slippery. 
 

Then a few years later Hoke exited after the concussiongate cloud. as did Dave Brandon and all his sleazy marketing shit. 

then a couple years ago our basketball coach assaulted an opposing team coach in their arena and he kept his job which felt pretty shady  

then our hockey coach got involved in some kind of inexcusable sexual harassment scandal and our AD more or less ignore it until he was backed into a corner and had to let him go and that felt pretty sleazy  

then Harbaugh didn’t want to stay a few times but no one in the NFL wanted him so he stayed and we all felt a little used 

Now this crap and this site has moved from balanced clear eyed analysis to minimizing and soft pedaling some pretty concerning things. 
 

let’s face it: we aren’t the Michigan we used to or should be.  We can get there again, but a whole new leadership and outlook to reorient our moral compass is in order. 

It's a small point but UM didn't suspend Harbaugh; the B1G did and they stopped fighting it.  This is different than the 3 games to start the year.  

It's not that big of a mystery, Seth. Michigan rolled over. Given its previous rhetoric, it wouldn't have done so if it didn't have good reason to make a deal. If the school truly felt it was in a bullish position, it would have fought this thing to the end. There's probably more to the story.  To me, it has always seemed as if folks here were a bit too cocky and lacking in humility.

In the initial B1G complaint, they reserved the right to administer additional punishment 

their statement today doesn’t take that away. Nothing has changed

why did Michigan roll over AGAIN?

time to find another conference 

When will the Michigan, or will our alumni have to do it, launch our PR campaign????🤔😉

At this point, we only have a statement from UM & from B1G.  We’ll have to wait to know what actually went on, so the speculation and tea leaves reading does nothing.  We’ll hear more eventually for sure, because an FOIA is sure to be filed…

I worry what kind of messaging the players are receiving with this acceptance of the suspension.

Before, they could be angry due to the unfair persecution of their head coach.

Now, their head coach just made a deal to sit on the sidelines. What do they have to be so angry about?? Apparently, Harbaugh thinks it's in his best interest to quit the fight.

I want them mad like they were going into Penn State. I don't know if the same motivation persists now..

All these people saying this let’s M focus on the game and not distractions don’t realize Harbaugh not being at OSU is still a distraction, if it came out today or next Thursday.

also, you don’t get to the playoffs if you don’t beat OSU, and we just made it harder to do that. Not saying we can’t win, but Harbaugh there is better than no Harbaugh. Doesn’t make any sense

Honestly, I don't actually mind the move here by M. Reasons:

1. We have shown we can win without Harbaugh on Gameday. I'm all for Sherrone getting more HC experience here as I think he may just stick around and take over for JH when he's done. 

2. If/when we beat OSU they will look like even bigger idiots and Ryan Day's seat will be melting from the fanbase heat. This will (much like with Franklin) require at the very least a Coordinator sacrifice to the rabid mob (lookin at you here Knowles). 

3. This effectively turfs this distraction. No breathless reporters covering the hearing Friday and recapping the sordid tale of Stallions etc. The focus is already starting to shift to Texas AM and Jimbo, and anticipation of the playoffs etc. 

4. This removes the uncertainty for players and coaches and fans. We know what to expect for the next two games and can adjust accordingly. 

I know there is a lot of warranted concern that the BIG is not a rational actor here and may do even more down the line, but what I think happened is that both sides realized nothing good would come of the trial etc. and we are due some kind of punishment for this rule breaking (stupid though it is). All things considered 3 gameday only suspensions when we have a more than capable HC in Moore able to take over seems like as good as we were going to get or at least good enough to take. 

After this I don't know how interested I am in continuing to watch this season. Seems like the powers that be will come after whatever success is won moving forward this year. 

It's pretty much impossible to interpret this as something other than another massive "L" for the university and for us as a fan base.  We saw Warde and Santa puffing out their chest and we figured that we finally had a fight on our hands.  Then UM clearly got cold feet and backed down humiliatingly, with our rivals doing victory laps all over the country and the B1G rubbing it in our noses.  If you thought that we were getting murdered in the PR battle then you hadn't seen nothin' yet.  Pure idiocy and incompetence by the people in charge once again.  

What I really don’t understand is that had we looked to settle the case early on we likely could have just gotten a two game suspension.  Why go through the pretense of fighting an all out legal battle only to turtle before it gets fully started?  
 

The only thing I can think of that makes sense is maybe they put all their eggs in the TRO basket and once it didn’t get granted last week they saw that as a sign it was never getting granted and so it was better to just drop the suit and move on in order to lessen the distraction and hopefully the media coverage. 
 

Of course that is super deflating for the fans. I just hope it doesn’t have a similar effect on the players.  

Even in victory for them, the Big Ten's statement was very arrogant and confrontational:

The Big Ten Conference’s commitment to student-athletes, sportsmanship and the Commissioner’s duty to protect the integrity of competition will never waver. Today’s decision by the University of Michigan to withdraw its legal challenge against the Conference’s November 10th Notice of Disciplinary Action is indicative of the high standards and values that the Conference and the University seek to uphold. The University of Michigan is a valued member of the Big Ten Conference and the Conference will continue to work cooperatively with the University and the NCAA during this process.

In other words, we are right, you are wrong.  We've made you see the light.  We welcome the wayward son back into the fold, but only under our good graces.

This is an organization that is completely unbowed.  They are going to do this again.

" The University of Michigan is a valued member of the Big Ten Conference"

that's a very interesting statement... why bring it up?  were the internet grumblings of leaving turning into something tangible?

Re: this headline, Michigan didn't suspend anyone.