Precedent of a conference crippling one of its best programs on the basis of near zero evidence or infraction

Submitted by brad on November 6th, 2023 at 6:55 PM

This is not fear mongering, but I happened to be living in Washington State when the Huskies program was mercilessly gutted by the PAC 10 conference.  I'm bringing this up because it sometimes feels like the hell Michigan Football is being dragged through right now is like a fever dream and it can't be real and we'll come through just fine when level heads prevail.  That happy ending is not a foregone conclusion, and I believe it is correct on our part to pull every lever of power we have right now to regain control of this situation, including threatening to join the ACC, removing Warde and presenting that as a sacrificial head, digging in legally via an injunction on potential suspensions, leaking the hell out of our gathered dirt on Ohio State and all Big Ten programs, etc.

UW was coming off its 1991 national championship with Steve Emtman and all those guys, and Don James had the program really humming at the time.  The specific allegations were different than ours, but the nonsensical fact of a conference ganging up on one its top members fueled by a media firestorm in order to reset the balance of USC and UCLA (in our case Ohio State) being top dogs is not fantasy, and in fact has literally happened.

This article from 2011 is about the USC issues with Reggie Bush but contains a good description of how the LA media were able to drum up a baseless but extremely effective smear campaign and the PAC 10 felt compelled to act.  In the end, after all was said and done, no smoking gun existed but the Huskies program was buried and they have only recently revived, two or three decades later.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/580881-usc-sanctions-unjust-penalties-against-uw-a-decade-ago-might-force-ncaas-hand

What's happening now is serious, has been successfully done before, and deserves the maximum possible reaction and response from Michigan itself and from all of our friendly media outlets/contacts, as well as stiff legal maneuvering.

MGoBoard
Football

M-Dog

November 6th, 2023 at 7:07 PM ^

The salient point is that those violations that led to a near-death penalty are all legal now.

There are real violations and there are "violations" that are capricious and arbitrary.

 

Joined: 07/06/2008

MGoPoints: 257517

Blue in Paradise

November 6th, 2023 at 7:08 PM ^

Threatening to leave the conference is the nuclear, scorched earth option.  Let’s call that Plan B.

One level below that would be to demand pro-rata tv money.  Let’s call that a plan A.

If this goes to a lawsuit, you find a legal justification to get out of the current contract (even if it is bunk) and then start by offering Plan A with Plan B as the fall back option.  While you are fighting in court, add that to the menu.

I think most of Michigan’s fan base and / or alums and students would be supportive of this point.

Joined: 08/14/2016

MGoPoints: 36794

Red is Blue

November 6th, 2023 at 8:05 PM ^

Join the ACC. 

1) Better academics (Duke, UVa, GaTech, Stanford,  Cal...).  

2) Comparable football

    ACC) UM, FSU, Miami, ND  ( sort of), Clemson, UNC

   B1G) OSU, USC, Oregon, Washington, PSU

3) Less cross country travel

4) Better bball

5) Better presence in growing area, better recruiting areas 

 

Joined: 05/13/2010

MGoPoints: 23889

UM Indy

November 6th, 2023 at 7:11 PM ^

And I just want to know - is the Big Ten prepared to sacrifice itself for this? I mean, we are literally talking about potentially conference imploding action here.

Joined: 03/05/2009

MGoPoints: 22273

S.D. Jones

November 6th, 2023 at 7:17 PM ^

Could Wolverine Historian or someone possessing a similar store of ancient wisdom tell us the story of the first time UM left the Big Ten? I know very little about it and would love to learn. 

Joined: 01/28/2011

MGoPoints: 15339

Hensons Mobile…

November 6th, 2023 at 7:45 PM ^

The part about "friendly" media is prompting this comment.

Unfortunately, ESPN is still a leading voice in sports media. They are not merely "not friendly" but are proving to be actual antagonists.

ESPN does run AP stories on their site, but from what I can see, they have not published the AP article about the other Big Ten schools conspiring against Michigan to put together Michigan's list of signs nor have they written their own version of the story in which they could simply cite the AP (as they did when citing USA Today every other sentence for their initial Mel Tucker story).

Joined: 09/12/2019

MGoPoints: 49530

mgobleu

November 6th, 2023 at 8:25 PM ^

It still doesn’t make any sense. Why destroy your conference’s best chance at a title? 

We’re just cutting off our nose to spider face. 

Joined: 07/02/2008

MGoPoints: 38428