Michigan was involved in a rampant cheating scandal that gave them an advantage against the Ohio State football team and every other team in the Big Ten. Connor Stalions orchestrated illegal scouting operations that clearly aided TTUN in winning games.
After two years, the NCAA finally released its findings in the investigation into Michigan and the cheating scandal surrounding it. They also released their punishments for TTUN. Essentially, the punishments effectively banned Jim Harbaugh from ever coaching in college football again.
That was as bad as the punishments got. There were no vacating of wins, postseason ban, or hefty suspension for Sherrone Moore. Michigan received very few consequences for cheating its way to a national championship, and fans of the Ohio State Buckeyes are not happy.
Ohio State football fans are not pleased with the NCAA's weak punishments of Michigan
Nicole Auerbach of The Athletic reported that the NCAA said they had plenty of evidence for a multi-year postseason ban, but the NCAA thought it would punish players who had nothing to do with the scandal too much.
The NCAA says there were sufficient grounds for a multiyear postseason ban. "However, the panel determined that a postseason ban would unfairly penalize student-athletes for the actions of coaches and staff who are no longer associated with the Michigan football program."
β Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) August 15, 2025
After finding this out, fans of the Buckeyes were not pleased with the spineless actions of the NCAA. Several fans took to social media to disparage the NCAA for the weakness of their punishments that seemingly encourage rampant cheating across the country.
In other words: βThey cheated. They knew they cheated while they were cheating. But we just no longer have the courage or power to enforce a meaningful punishment, like we did to previous cheatersβ π€·π½ββοΈ
β Farhan Lalji (@FarhanLaljiTSN) August 15, 2025
screw the ncaa letβs handle business on the field nov 29 pic.twitter.com/gSosWaU5Ld
β πΈπππππ (@MissMandy126) August 15, 2025
We just want consistency with the NCAA. If the Buckeyes got a postseason ban for trading memorabilia for tattoos then Michigan should get more than that for literal cheating and disrespecting this great game we call college football.
β THE Bunch of Nuts Podcast (@bunch_nuts) August 15, 2025
End rant. My focus is now Texas!
The NCAA showed that they are of a bygone era. If they weren't going to punish cheating that clearly affected on-field results, then they just simply have no power. This opens the floodgates for programs to cheat and then lie to the NCAA afterward because they won't receive any real punishment for doing so.
This doesn't change the fact that every other fan base in the country will keep an asterisk on that championship from 2023 because it was built on the backs of people who cheated. That is probably the biggest punishment of all for TTUN. This saga is now officially over.
Ohio State still has an untainted national championship, which is not something Michigan will ever be able to say. This should also signal to Ryan Day and the rest of the coaching staff that they should try to skirt the rules as much as possible. If there are no real consequences, why play by the rules?
The NCAA is a sham organization, and this final punishment that they have doled out confirms that fact to every school in the country.