The NCAA Committee on Infractions’ long-awaited ruling in the Michigan advance-scouting case will be publicly announced Friday, sources told ESPN, as involved parties were made aware of the upcoming release Thursday.

The NCAA is expected to hold a news conference early Friday afternoon to detail the findings, sources told ESPN. It could mark the conclusion of one of the most explosive, strange and controversial cases in the long history of NCAA enforcement.

The NCAA charged Michigan and numerous coaches and staffers with 11 violations — six of them Level I, the most serious — in relation to a sign-stealing operation overseen by former staffer Connor Stalions.

Stalions is alleged to have arranged for people to attend games and film the sideline signals involving future Michigan opponents from 2021 to the middle of the 2023 season, when the scheme was uncovered and Stalions resigned.

Stealing signs in games is not against NCAA rules, but schools are not allowed to scout opponents in advance in person. Evidence emerged of Stalions purchasing tickets at nearly every Big Ten school.

According to a draft of the NCAA notice of allegations obtained by ESPN, Stalions arranged the impermissible scouting of at least 13 future opponents on at least 58 occasions from 2021 to 2023. That included scouting opponents multiple times, including one team that was watched seven times in 2022, according to the draft.

Michigan coach Sherrone Moore is expected to be suspended for at least two games in the upcoming season for deleting a thread of 52 text messages with Stalions. One of the mysteries of the upcoming ruling is whether that self-imposed sanction will be accepted or if there will be any additions to it.

Michigan has asked for that two-game ban to be served during the Wolverines’ third and fourth games.

Michigan and all of its current and former coaches involved in the matter have said they were unaware of Stalions’ alleged advanced scouting.

The school appeared before the NCAA infractions committee during a two-day hearing in early June.

Potential penalties for the other former Michigan coaches involved include suspensions, significant fines and other measures. Those are more likely than any significant program penalties for Michigan — other than a hefty potential fine — as recent NCAA precedent has steered the Committee on Infractions away from postseason bans in other cases.

Show-cause penalties — which work like a type of employment ban — could also be leveled on former coach Jim Harbaugh, now with the Los Angeles Chargers, Stalions and former assistant coaches named in the report. The Big Ten suspended Harbaugh for three games to conclude the 2023 regular season under the league’s sportsmanship rules.

In August 2024, Harbaugh received a four-year show-cause penalty from the NCAA tied to a separate case where he was found to have improper contract with recruits.

Moore was charged with failure to cooperate for deleting a text thread — which was later recovered — with Stalions on Oct. 19, 2023, the day the scandal broke. The messages, per the NCAA case, did not include any information to suggest Moore knew of Stalions’ alleged actions. Moore is considered a potential “repeat violator” by the NCAA because in August 2023 he negotiated a resolution to claims that he contacted recruits during a COVID-19 recruiting dead period, and he later served a one-game suspension.

Michigan went on to capture the 2023 national championship after Stalions’ resignation.

The Wolverines, who are ranked No. 14 in the preseason AP Top 25, open the season at home against New Mexico on Aug. 30 before visiting No. 18 Oklahoma on Sept. 6.

Florida quarterback Tim Tebow and Florida State cornerback Deion Sanders were among the former college football stars named to The Associated Press’ All-Time All-America first team.

Ohio State and Pittsburgh each placed three players on the AP All-Time All-America team announced Thursday as part of the news organization’s celebration of the 100th anniversary of the storied honor for the top players in college football.

Since 1925, nearly 2,000 men have been named AP first-team All-Americans, one of the most prestigious honors in the sport.

Of the 25 players on the first team, five won the Heisman Trophy and 21 are in the College Football Hall of Fame, two are nominated for induction in 2026, and two are not eligible because they are not yet 10 years removed from their college careers.

A panel of 12 AP sportswriters who cover college football selected the all-time team. It won’t be, and shouldn’t be, considered definitive. There have been far more great players over the past century than spots available.

For a player to qualify, he must have been an AP first-team All-American at least once. His professional career, if any, was not to be considered. Also, a member of the all-time team could be listed only on the side of the ball where he was named first-team All-America. All-purpose players could come from any position.

Voters were cautioned against recency bias, but it is notable that only three of the first-team selections played before 1970. Of the 12 players who were three-time All-Americans, only four made the two all-time teams picked by AP.

Tebow edged Texas‘ Vince Young (2005) for all-time first-team quarterback. Tebow won the Heisman and made the AP All-America team as a sophomore in 2007, his first year as the starter.

He led the Gators to their second national championship in three years in 2008 and narrowly missed a chance at another when the 2009 team started 13-0 but lost to Alabama in the SEC championship game. Tebow remains the SEC career leader in rushing touchdowns and touchdowns responsible for.

Oklahoma State‘s Barry Sanders (1988) and Georgia‘s Herschel Walker (1980-82), both Heisman winners, are the running backs. Marshall‘s Randy Moss (1997) and Pittsburgh’s Larry Fitzgerald (2003) are the wide receivers.

The offensive line is made up of Ohio State’s Orlando Pace (1995-96) and Pitt’s Bill Fralic (1982-84) at tackle, Alabama’s John Hannah (1972) and Ohio State’s Jim Parker (1956) at guard and Penn’s Chuck Bednarik (1947-48) at center. The tight end is Georgia’s Brock Bowers (2023).

The all-purpose player is Heisman winner Johnny Rodgers of Nebraska (1972).

On defense, Pitt’s Hugh Green (1978-80) and Maryland‘s Randy White (1974) are the ends and Nebraska’s Ndamukong Suh (2009) and Minnesota‘s Bronko Nagurski (1929) are the tackles. The linebackers are Illinois‘ Dick Butkus (1964), Alabama’s Derrick Thomas (1988) and Ohio State’s Chris Spielman (1986-87).

The secondary is made up of Sanders (1987-88) and Heisman winner Charles Woodson of Michigan (1996-97) at cornerback and USC’s Ronnie Lott (1980) and Miami‘s Ed Reed (2000-01) at safety.

The specialists are Florida State kicker Sebastian Janikowski (1998-99) and Iowa punter Tory Taylor (2023).

Many fans might say Anthony Munoz and Ray Guy, among others, are glaring omissions.

Munoz, who played at USC from 1976 to 1979, is considered one of the greatest offensive linemen of all time, college or pro. He is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Alas, he was never a first-team AP All-American.

Guy, who played at Southern Mississippi from 1970 to 1972, remains the only punter selected in the first round of an NFL draft. But punters were not included on AP All-America teams until 1981.

The Big Ten led all conferences with seven selections, two more than the SEC.

First team offense

Wide receivers – Randy Moss, Marshall, 1997; Larry Fitzgerald, Pittsburgh, 2003

Tackles – Orlando Pace, Ohio State, 1995-96; Bill Fralic, Pittsburgh, 1982-84

Guards – John Hannah, Alabama, 1972; Jim Parker, Ohio State, 1956

Center – Chuck Bednarik, Penn, 1947-48

Tight end – Brock Bowers, Georgia, 2023

QB – Tim Tebow, Florida, 2007

Running backs – Barry Sanders, Oklahoma State, 1988; Herschel Walker, Georgia, 1980-82

Kicker – Sebastian Janikowski, Florida State, 1998-99

All-purpose – Johnny Rodgers, Nebraska, 1972

First team defense

Ends – Hugh Green, Pittsburgh, 1978-80; Randy White, Maryland, 1974

Tackles – Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska, 2009; Bronko Nagurski, Minnesota, 1929

Linebackers – Dick Butkus, Illinois, 1964; Derrick Thomas, Alabama, 1988; Chris Spielman, Ohio State, 1986-87

Cornerbacks – Charles Woodson, Michigan, 1996-97; Deion Sanders, Florida State, 1987-88

Safeties – Ronnie Lott, USC, 1980; Ed Reed, Miami, 2000-01

Punter – Tory Taylor, Iowa, 2023

Inspirational thought of the week:

What do you do when you love somebody
And you decide to go it alone?
Ah, no, no, it never pays to give up on someone
When on the inside the feelin’ is strong

Oh, here we go again
I thought what we had was over now
But here we go again

— “Here We Go Again” Isley Brothers

Here at Bottom 10 Headquarters, located inside the 18-wheeler of tissues being delivered to the “College GameDay” set for Coach Corso’s final show, we have spent the offseason staring at the map. Specifically, a United States puzzle map. We picked up the piece labeled “Massachusetts” and held it while we kept one eye on the calendar and one eye on the clock.

Then, as the long hand hit 12 and it became midnight and thus was officially Tuesday, July 1, 2025, we slathered crazy glue onto the back of that wooden facsimile of the Codfish State and screamed, “UMASS IS WALKING BACK TO THE MAC, BABY!”

That’s when the lights came on. Standing in the doorway were the kids from whose playroom I’d stolen the puzzle. They were crying. There was a dog, apparently named Mac, who thought I’d called him for a walk. Now he was crying. Then there was my wife, in her pajamas and mad because I’d woken her up. She pointed to my hand, still held high in the air about to slap Massachusetts into the heart of the Mid-American Conference and said, “Nice job, moron. You palmed the side with the crazy glue. I hope you like UMass as much as you say you do, because I’m out of nail polish remover. That’s gonna still be in your hand when the season starts.”

With apologies to former Villanova running back Larry Glueck, Lester Hayes, Harry Cover and Steve Harvey, here’s the 2025 preseason Bottom 10 rankings.

The defending Bottom 10 champs have lost 21 games in a row and fired coach Kenni Burns. But they let him stick around until spring practice had already started and said they didn’t fire him because his record was 1-23 but rather because of a list of reasons presented by university leaders. That included maxing out his $20K “P-card” which stands for personal card, not something the doctor has you use to check your alkaline levels.

Our Bottom 10 JortsCenter investigative unit has discovered a pile of wilted flowers and an accompanying thank you note, found in a dumpster behind the Kent State football offices, with a Kennesaw State return address. The card reads: “Thanks for botching your coach firing so bad because it made people forget our even worse coach firing last fall. Love, The Owls (not the ones at Rice, FAU or Temple).” Why were we digging through the dumpster at Kent? Because we heard that Greg McElroy said that Nick Saban was going back to coach his alma mater.

The Amherst Amblers are indeed back where the Bottom 10 football gods want them, rejoining #MACtion after nearly a decade away. They were in the MAC from 2012 to 2015, during which time they won eight games over four seasons. Then they went rogue, during which time they earned 18 wins over nine seasons. Is it weird to leave a conference and then return? Sure. But did we really believe that a group of Minutemen could resist the idea of independence?

The 2025 roster of Brett Favre Disaster Relief U. has 17 transfers from the SEC, nine from the Big 12 and five from the ACC. The last time there were this many out-of-towners in Hattiesburg they were on their way to siege Vicksburg.

5. The State U. Fightin’ Accountants

Between rev share and payrolls and school shoe deals promising unprecedented NIL payouts and the Kansas Nayhawks receiving a $300 million donation and players kinda sorta not really gambling and court settlements that were supposed to fix everything but then we find out that, no, there’s more that has to be sorted out to players’ parents complaining about unfulfilled financial promises to everyone from Tom Brady to Shane Gillis telling us that college sports cash is screwed up but no one has any real solutions … can we please just kick off the games already?

Sources have also told Bottom 10 JortsCenter that New Mexico State officials have looked into the possibility of not playing any games this year and instead hosting stadium jumbotron SEC Network watch parties to see all their former players winning games at Vanderbilt.

The Golden Hurricane lost their last four games of 2024 by surrendering an average 55.75 points per contest. It was the most excruciating finish we’ve been forced to witness since the “Game of Thrones” finale.

The Panthers Not Owls moved up to FBS football nearly 25 years ago and since then have posted only four winning seasons, the last coming in their legendary 9-4 campaign in 2018 that ended with a win in the Popeye’s Bahamas Bowl. Over the past five years, they have averaged 2.6 wins. Exactly how I feel after I have eaten too much Popeye’s.

Speaking of moving up to FBS, the Bears are doing so after 115 years of playing at lower levels. During that time, they posted an FCS playoff record of 1-4 and a bowl mark of 0-4, including two losses in the Mineral Water Bowl. College Football Playoff, here they come!

Speaking of repeating ourselves, the Fightin’ Blue Hens are also movin’ on up, but bringing a very different résumé to the FBS job fair. Delaware claims six national titles, five in Division II and the 2003 FCS championship. Plus, it was the first program of the Level Formerly Known as 1-AA to draw more than 20,000 fans per game. The Blue Hens open the season versus Delaware State, not be confused with the State of Delaware. If they had to fight the entire state of Delaware, that wouldn’t seem fair. Though, if it was set to the music of George Thorogood and there was blue crab being served, I would totally be there.

Waiting list: Georgia State Not Southern, Baller State, Akronmonious, Temple of Doom, ULM (pronounced “uhlm”), UTEPid, Muddled Tennessee, coach girlfriend headlines.