ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Michigan football’s win over Ohio State, after everything that’s happened over the past month, had to feel beyond satisfying for Jim Harbaugh’s team. And now, the Wolverines are just one step away from another dose of sweet revenge.
Nobody knows for sure where the information about Connor Stalions’ sign-stealing operation came from, but everyone knows who had the most to gain from its very strategic and timely exposure. For the first time in decades, Michigan had won back-to-back games against the Buckeyes and went on to conference championships.
Rumblings about a Harbaugh contract extension began. That might not have been in the best interest of certain programs.
Well, even the sign-stealing distraction and the suspension of Harbaugh couldn’t stop the Wolverines from beating their rivals for a third year in a row.
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Now Michigan heads to Indianapolis for a Big Ten Championship Game clash with Iowa. A win would mean another trip to the College Football Playoff, but that’s not what the Michigan fan base craves most -- at least not for now.
Everyone just wants to see Tony Petitti hand Harbaugh that trophy.
Admittedly, Petitti is a first-year commissioner who was put in a tough spot. A group of agenda-driven Big Ten coaches demanded he take unprecedented action against Harbaugh and Michigan before the sign-stealing investigation was completed. It was a bit of a “rock and a hard place” type situation.
READ: If sign-stealing leaks were meant to push Harbaugh out of Michigan, that plan might have backfired
But being in a tough spot doesn’t give him a free pass for blowing his first major test so spectacularly. The inexperienced commissioner caved to the pressure and suspended Harbaugh, despite the conference and NCAA both admitting there is no evidence linking him to the scheme.
But that’s not all.
Petitti didn’t just suspend Harbaugh -- he did so late on a Friday evening, while the Wolverines were on the team plane heading to Penn State for their toughest road test of the season. The league didn’t even try to hide its intent to make it near impossible for Michigan to fight the decision by kickoff.
Ultimately, Harbaugh missed the three toughest games on Michigan’s schedule. Petitti probably thought that would save him from what could be a humiliating trophy ceremony late Saturday night.
Nope. Now Iowa is his last hope.
The Hawkeyes are a 10-win team with one of the best defenses in the nation. Michigan can’t simply walk into Lucas Oil Stadium -- which is starting to feel like a second home -- and come away with an easy win.
But if Michigan does take home a third-straight conference title, the greeting for Petitti when he takes the stage for the ceremony will make Roger Goodell’s draft night receptions look as warm and fuzzy as Hallmark movies.
He’s going to get booed into oblivion by a fan base with two month’s worth of pent-up frustration, and even though he won’t show it outwardly, it’s going to sting.
Petitti made the conflict with Michigan feel personal, not only in the way he delivered the punishment but the means by which he justified it.
From earlier ---> Big Ten’s handling of sign-stealing case could permanently damage relationship with Michigan
He used a ludicrous line by Michigan’s second-biggest rival about “player safety concerns” in his notice of allegations. He misrepresented and failed to address Michigan’s major counterpoints in his response. He was disingenuous and condescending because he knew nobody else was going to stick up for the Wolverines or care if they were treated unfairly.
If Iowa doesn’t pull off an upset, it’ll be time to pay the piper.
Petitti ostracized one of his league’s most prominent brands and might have permanently damaged that relationship. And the only thing Michigan could do about it was keep winning and hope that one day, the same person who played judge, jury, and executioner would have to force a smile onto his face and spit out those magical words:
“Congratulations to Jim Harbaugh and the Big Ten champion Michigan Wolverines.”
There are few things that motivate a team more than being doubted and hated. But revenge might be one of them.
