Three reasonable punishments for Michigan the Big Ten should levy

3. Michigan should be ineligible for the Big Ten Championship

Yes, this punishment is extreme. It would set a precedent since no conference has ever levied a punishment this heavy for an offense during the season. But as I mentioned, the entire integrity of the Big Ten is at stake here. There needs to be no doubt that integrity is intact.

Banning Michigan from the Big Ten Championship delivers the clear message that they cheated to win football games that would have made them eligible. They took opportunities from other teams away because they won games by using illegal tactics.

Quite frankly, this seems reasonable to me. This isn’t a recruiting violation where you paid a recruit to come to your school or you gave him a car. This is something that actually affected the outcome of games in real-time. There is no more serious offense than that.

If what is being alleged is true, Michigan may not have even been good enough to qualify for the last two Big Ten Championships that they won. They would have cheated against Ohio State both times and beating them meant Ohio State didn’t get to go to the Big Ten Championship.

All three of these punishments fit the crime. Of the evidence that has been released to the public, these are things that should happen. If anything does happen, Michigan will rush to the courts to try to get an injunction to lift whatever punishments happen. We’ll see if that works.

Of course, we will let you know the minute anything is announced.