Jeff Lesson 97.1 Cites Source: Michigan Can Prove NINE Other B1G Schools Sent Analysts To Record Games

posted it further down but this is the main quote from a source who is VERY close to the situation according to him

No penalty this week. Probably none next week. Then they will say we're waiting for the NCAA investigation. And as it stands now maaaybe some kind of reprimand, maybe a fine. Originally they were negotiating a few days ago. B1G wanted a three game suspension for Jimmy. Michigan told them to go where. Two games, they gave them the same answer. Then the University of Michigan came up with some very important data that got the attention of the young commissioner....he was given information...he was told by the Michigan people he was talking to that the University of Michigan has data on 9 other big ten teams that sent people to games. That this would get really ugly.

Dunno these dudes or their source but that's the money quote.

Feels like they kind of did... can't remember some verbatim, but it was an extremely better stated version of "you know, a lot of stuff goes on that you may or may not know about, and it would be a crying shame if the whole world were to somehow learn about all of it..."

You know, lawyer-ese for "FAFO"

There are better ways to play this.  Many are listed below.

If that's true then I doubt Michigan leaked this. It wouldn't be smart to bluff when someone can so easily call it. 

You don’t unleash all of your arrows at once. Good way to leave yourself open to counterattack.

Why would we include that in the letter? Those details are best displayed in court if needed. 
 

We DID send a warning though:

"Moreover, the Conference should act cautiously when setting precedent given the reality that in-person scouting, collusion among opponents, and other questionable practices may well be far more prevalent than believed."

There are reasons to leave it in the quiver,  if they have it. 

This info,  if true,  was not necessary for the response they sent. 

Yeah, I've changed my opinion of this the last few days a bit. Went from burn it all down, release everything a day at a time, to let's strategically play this out.

That being said, IF this is provable, this is something you release now. It's the exact same thing you are accused of, the response to the conference laid out that the evidence they've shared is pretty much nothing other than other teams' reporting things with no 1st hand evidence (Stallions did what he's accused of though) and little of that is really making a significant dent/breaking through. It's a PR battle and so far Michigan has come back a little, but this would blow a hole in the whole thing and drown any realistic attempt at punishment that has been "leaked" today.

The OSU "stuff" is probably unprovable and doesn't speak directly to this exact situation.

The Michigan sign sheet collected and distributed by other teams made a mark, but that still didn't rise to the general level of "the exact same thing Stallions did" so a lot of people waived it away as "well it's not technically as bad" (which, it's worse IMO).

This? This is 1:1 every program that cried is full of shit and any punishment levied at Michigan would have to be levied at other programs too.

Edit: Just listened to the video and the rationale of "don't release it because it would take down 9 other programs" is just bad reasoning. No, what this does is prove the "rule" they're banking on here isn't actually enforceable/shouldn't be pursued because of the rate at which it's broken/it's not actually an explicit rule. This wouldn't put all 10 teams at risk of being penalized, it would remove the penalization of Michigan because no conference would penalize 70% of its members for maybe kind of sort of breaking a squishy rule. If it's this squishy and that many programs do this, it's not actually a rule that can be enforced/punished.

I'm with you man, this needs released. There is ZERO reason to withhold this information. We've already been drug through the mud by the people we supposedly have dirt on, so why not just release it and take them down. 

Having something else to drop is always advantageous, though starting sooner could have helped. We've all watched the drip drip of M news, but the worm has really turned now that the opps are out of ammo and their previous efforts are coming undone. Holding the last cards has a ton of value in shaping the narrative and ensuring the chumps look maximally chumpy.

I also don’t like it because if we say 9 other schools were doing what Stalions did then someone on staff must have known what Stalions was doing. 
 

edit: I know people don’t like negative thoughts, but how would this not be a logical conclusion?

My guess is Michigan is still trying to be the mature adult in this conference and has been privately reminding other schools and Pettiti that they have this info and will drop it if Harbaugh is suspended. I don't think Michigan takes this league for granted or wants to blow it up - I wish our peer members felt the same respect for us

Eh I bet you're wrong. All of this is showing that UM is trying not to burn everything down - but will do so, if pushed. It's being an Adult in a room of Children.

This is a fair point. If Lessons is correct, it may be that Michigan has taken the time to acquire information that could properly be considered "evidence" rather than just "we know stuff is going on."

And it's useful as a threat of escalation to keep the exact info unknown. Particularly if other programs know there's stuff there. 

Disagree. No chance UofM would even hint at this if they didn't have receipts. It's just not how they operate, thankfully. I also think it makes most sense to do exactly what they've done. If the B10 backs down, then we can leave it be. We still have to share this conference with all those teams, and don't want the commissioner to have us in their sights moving forward. 

Also, UofM always strives to be the adult in the room. Thankfully.