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With the Big Ten’s ruling on whether Michigan violated the league’s sportsmanship policy expected to arrive in the near future, the focus of the college football season’s most high-profile standoff could shift to the courtroom.

Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti provided notice to Michigan that the conference was considering some form of discipline earlier this week. A source confirmed to ESPN that Michigan responded Wednesday with a 10-page letter that strongly urged the league not to act, laying the groundwork for an immediate appeal to the justice system if Petitti doles out any sanctions.

Sources consistently have told ESPN the expected punishment for any widespread illicit sign-stealing program run by former analyst Connor Stalions has long been the suspension of coach Jim Harbaugh. The length of that potential suspension is uncertain.

Harbaugh served a three-game self-imposed suspension at the start of this season in response to allegations of NCAA recruiting violations. During that time, he was only prohibited from coaching the team on game days. Sources told ESPN that Big Ten athletic directors made clear to Petitti on a call last week that they wanted any suspension of Harbaugh to be different. The athletic directors, per sources, pushed strongly for Harbaugh to not be allowed to enter the facility or coach any aspect of the team at any time during the suspension.

If Petitti does suspend Harbaugh this week, sources said Michigan has been preparing to challenge the ruling in court in an effort to keep Harbaugh on the sideline for the No. 3 Wolverines’ game at No. 10 Penn State on Saturday.

Sources have indicated for days that both Harbaugh and Michigan have been preparing a legal rebuttal, the process of which likely would include a lawsuit against the Big Ten that asks for a preliminary injunction seeking to prevent the suspension.

Legal experts told ESPN that in order to get a decision in time for Saturday’s game — especially given that Friday is a court holiday — Michigan would likely be asking for an ex parte ruling on a temporary restraining order, meaning the judge could make a decision after hearing Harbaugh’s argument before the Big Ten has an opportunity to respond. The most likely venue for a hearing this week would be Washtenaw County Circuit Court in Ann Arbor. (The other potential venue would be federal court.)

A retired chief judge from Washtenaw County Circuit Court, Donald Shelton, told ESPN via email that the judge who hears the case for the temporary restraining order would need to weigh four factors: the likelihood that Michigan would succeed in the lawsuit in the end; proof of irreparable harm if the suspension is in place while waiting for a trial; what the harm would be to each side if the injunction isn’t issued; and whether the public interest is being served by granting it.

Shelton teaches at UM Dearborn in the criminal justice department and noted he’s a Michigan law grad and football fan who flies a Michigan flag at home. He joked that when he left the bench, he no longer needed to be unbiased.

But he offered a straight appraisal of the potential legal action with the proof of irreparable harm being the “strong issue” for Michigan in this potential legal dispute.

Shelton laid out Michigan’s argument for irreparable harm: “It would argue that each football game is unique and that suspending the coach from any of the forthcoming games is a harm to him and the team that cannot be undone regardless of the outcome of a future trial on the merits.”

The counterargument would be, Shelton predicted: “The Big 10 would argue that the team and the games can go ahead without the head coach without detriment, as demonstrated by its success earlier this season when Coach Harbaugh was suspended for 3 games by the NCAA.”

There is recent precedent both for a school seeking a temporary injunction to protect a player’s eligibility and for a school taking legal action against its own conference.

Eight Nebraska football players filed a lawsuit against the Big Ten in 2020 to invalidate the league’s postponement of the fall football season. They did it in local court in Lancaster County, which could be instructive for the direction Michigan takes. (The Big Ten eventually reversed course and ended up playing football in 2020.)

Former Memphis basketball star James Wiseman was given a temporary injunction from an NCAA ruling in 2019 and was allowed to play in two games. He later dropped the lawsuit and left college to train for the NBA after playing in just three college games.

For a coach of Harbaugh’s profile to take legal action against his own league during a season would be unprecedented. It could have high-stakes implications on the Wolverines’ possible championship season and the long-term fate of one of the most recognizable coaches in the sport.

The scrutiny for Michigan comes in the wake of an NCAA investigation that began nearly three weeks ago. The Big Ten announced on Oct. 19 that it had alerted other schools about the NCAA’s investigation. Michigan suspended Stalions the following day, and he later resigned.

ESPN has reported that Stalions bought tickets to 12 of 13 Big Ten schools and purchased tickets to more than 35 games at 17 stadiums over the past three years. The breadth of that alleged sign-stealing ring has rankled officials around the Big Ten and prompted both coaches and athletic directors to push hard for Petitti to punish Michigan.

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Sources: Sooners DT Stone hits transfer portal

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Sources: Sooners DT Stone hits transfer portal

Oklahoma defensive tackle David Stone entered the NCAA transfer portal Friday, sources told ESPN.

Stone, a former five-star recruit and the No. 6 overall player in the ESPN 300 for the 2024 class, made the surprising decision to enter the portal after playing in all 13 games as a true freshman with the Sooners. The 6-foot-3 313-pounder saw limited playing time, playing 88 snaps and recording 6 tackles, 2 tackles for loss and 1 sack.

Stone was expected to compete for a more significant role as a sophomore, and Oklahoma coach Brent Venables recently praised him as the Sooners’ most improved defensive tackle this offseason.

The Oklahoma native finished his high school career at IMG Academy in Florida and was a significant recruiting victory for Venables and his coaching staff in August 2023. Stone chose the Sooners over Texas A&M, Oregon, Florida, Miami and Michigan State.

The SEC does not grant immediate eligibility to players who transfer within the conference during the spring transfer window, so Stone would need to sit out the 2025 season if he moves on to another SEC program.

Oklahoma returns its top three defensive tackles from 2024 in Damonic Williams, Gracen Halton and Jayden Jackson. It also added Trent Wilson, the No. 164 recruit in the ESPN 300 for 2025, as an early enrollee this spring.

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QB Browne returns to Purdue after brief UNC stint

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QB Browne returns to Purdue after brief UNC stint

Quarterback Ryan Browne has decided to transfer back to Purdue after joining North Carolina earlier this offseason.

Browne committed to rejoining the Boilermakers on Friday after entering his name in the NCAA transfer portal Wednesday.

The 6-foot-4, 210-pound redshirt sophomore started two games for Purdue in 2024 but moved on amid the program’s head coaching change and went through spring practice under new Tar Heels coach Bill Belichick.

North Carolina landed a commitment from South Alabama transfer quarterback Gio Lopez on Thursday.

Browne and freshman Bryce Baker were North Carolina’s lone scholarship quarterbacks available for spring practice and were competing with three walk-ons while sixth-year senior Max Johnson recovers from a broken leg.

Browne threw for 636 yards, rushed for 240 yards and scored four touchdowns while appearing in nine games as Hudson Card’s backup over the past two seasons at Purdue, earning starts in losses to Illinois and Oregon.

By returning to West Lafayette, Browne will get an opportunity to compete for a starting job with Arkansas transfer Malachi Singleton, Washington State transfer Evans Chuba and Bennett Meredith, a former Arizona State transfer.

The Boilermakers lost one quarterback, EJ Colson, to the transfer portal earlier this week.

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U-M’s Underwood has up-and-down spring game

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U-M's Underwood has up-and-down spring game

Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood showed glimpses of the growing pains he will experience as a freshman and flashes of the promise that made him the nation’s top-rated high school football recruit in the Wolverines’ spring game Saturday.

Underwood was 12 of 26 for 187 yards with a scrimmage-ending, 88-yard pass to tight end Jalen Hoffman on a reverse flea-flicker in a 17-0 win for the Blue over the Maize.

He also recovered his fumble, had a pair of delay-of-game penalties, several errant throws – high and wide – and some dropped. Underwood lost 12 yards on two sacks and gained 17 yards on three runs.

“He did well,” coach Sherrone Moore said. “Made some really, good throws and had some things we need to clean up and get better at.”

As the Wolverines wrapped up spring football in front of about 40,000 fans at the Big House, all eyes were on Underwood and he has become comfortable with that.

“It’s just the pressure that came with my arm,” Underwood told The Detroit News earlier this spring. “I can’t stop that.”

Underwood was sacked on his first snap and his first completion went for a loss. He did throw some darts, usually in the flat, and was quick enough to escape collapsed pockets to pick up yardage with his feet.

Underwood is expected to compete with sophomore Jadyn Davis and Fresno State transfer Mikey Keene for playing time ahead of the season-opening game on Aug. 30 at home against Fresno State.

“It’s a battle,” Moore said. “It’s going to go all the way to fall camp.”

Underwood is motivated to start and kick off a legacy-building career with lofty goals.

“A couple of Heismans and at least one natty,” Underwood said last month in an interview on the Rich Eisen Show.

Underwood knows there will be people doubting he can live up to the hype.

‘He’s just a freshman. He won’t be good enough,'” Underwood said. “I might keep that chip my whole three years.”

He attended at Belleville High School, which is about 15 miles east of Ann Arbor, and flipped his commitment to Michigan after telling LSU coaches last year he intended to play there.

Tom Brady, a former Wolverine and seven-time Super Bowl winner, talked with Underwood during the school’s recruitment via FaceTime and Oracle founder Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people, also connected with him.

Jay Underwood told the Wall Street Journal that his son is expected to make more than $15 million at Michigan, but that doesn’t guarantee he will take the first snap next fall.

“He wants to earn everything,” Moore has said. “He doesn’t want to be given anything.”

Hoffman said Underwood has simply blended in with his teammates.

“He’s really humble, like not a big head, ego, nothing like that,” he said. “Comes into work and every day, he wants to get better every day. He’s not riding off his success in high school. He’s really trying to be one of those top players in college football.”

Underwood participated in practices with the team before it beat Alabama in a bowl game, enrolled in classes in January and gained a lot experience in 14 private practices before a public scrimmage.

“Football is football,” he told MLive.com. “School is a little bit more overwhelming now.”

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