What If NCAA And/Or CFP Vacates Michigan Wins And Takes Away National Title It May Win Monday? | Glenn Guilbeau

What if the last legitimate win in the 2023-24 college football season was Washington's 37-31 victory over Texas in the College Football Playoff semifinal on Jan. 1?

What if the NCAA and/or the College Football Playoff committee vacates Michigan's wins this season and the previous two seasons because of its systemic, exhaustive and sinister scouting and sign stealing system overtly against NCAA rules?

Michigan, under head coach Jim Harbaugh, was 7-0 when news of the scandal broke in mid-October. So one could argue the No. 1 Wolverines (14-0) have won their last seven games legitimately and would win the national championship game against Washington on Monday (7:30 p.m., ESPN) the same way.

But if it won multiple games on the way to 7-0 against the rules, and those wins are vacated or forfeited by the NCAA, then Michigan could not qualify retroactively for the CFP it is in now. In other words, if some wins in a season are tainted, the whole season is tainted. And Michigan's 2023-24 season clearly smells of taint.

Therefore, the NCAA and/or the CFP could logically vacate or forfeit Michigan's Big Ten championship and its upcoming national championship - if it wins - because both would be soiled significantly.

Washington would likely not be declared national champions, but the Huskies would be the last clean team standing. They clearly earned their victories this season fair and square.

Michigan Wolverines May Be On Their Way To A Tainted Title

And do not think the NCAA would not vacate or forfeit Michigan's wins, or have a hand in that, even though the NCAA does not technically rule over the College Football Playoffs. The CFP is separate of the NCAA, but the two are in bed together. And new president Charlie Baker is his own man. And this sign stealing investigation started with the NCAA. Not with the Big Ten.

The NCAA has taken away titles and wins previously.

The NCAA stripped the Louisville basketball program's 2012-13 national championship because of a recruiting scandal that included "arranging striptease dances and sex acts for prospects, student-athletes and others," the NCAA said.

The NCAA stripped former LSU football coach Les Miles of 37 wins between 2012-15 for "impermissible benefits given to former Tigers offensive lineman Vadal Alexander, who received $180,150 from a booster over that span." None of those wins were in the playoffs, however. But the lost victories are expected to keep Miles out of the College Football Hall of Fame.

People tend to forget forfeits and vacated wins for the most part. But facts are facts, and cheaters are cheaters.

According to the NCAA, Alabama went 2-6 overall and 1-4 in the SEC in 2007 in coach Nick Saban's first season, not 7-6 and 4-4 because of a textbook scandal that pre-dated Saban. The NCAA vacated all 10 of Alabama wins in 2005 and all six in 2006 under coach Mike Shula. That's how it appears in both the Alabama and SEC media guides.

USC's 2004 national championship was not taken away by the NCAA technically. The Bowl Championship Series (at the time the version of what College Football Playoff is now) did the deed. The BCS and the NCAA were not formally affiliated as the CFP and the NCAA are not formally affiliated. But the BCS clearly reacted to the NCAA finding at the time that USC star running back Reggie Bush was ruled ineligible for the 2004-05 season retroactively because he received extra benefits from a sports marketer.

And Michigan's own men's basketball program was found guilty by the NCAA of one of the largest pay-for-play scandals in college basketball history involving the infamous Fab Five teams of the early 1990s. Michigan's Final Four appearances in 1992 and '93 were erased. Fab Four players Jimmy King, Jalen Rose, Ray Jackson, Juwan Howard and Chris Webber each had their names removed from all Michigan records.

NCAA Investigation Of Michigan Will Continue Into 2024

The NCAA eventually could hand out similar vacated wins or forfeitures of games involving Michigan's football teams from 2021-23, particularly with Baker in charge.

But Harbaugh did not want to hear about it on a CFP teleconference Wednesday.

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh has not coached in six of the Wolverines 14 games this season due to suspensions for breaking NCAA rules. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller via Getty Images)

On the teleconference, OutKick asked Harbaugh, who may be coaching in the NFL sooner or later, this:

"If down the road the NCAA (or the CFP) vacates or forfeits some of your wins from this season or past seasons, how would that play with you or impact you, regardless of where you might be at the time?"

After a lengthy pause, Harbaugh said, "Yeah, as I said, getting ready for this game, one-track mind. I mean, I guess you're living in the world of rumor-ville or speculation. But we just all don't have any room to be doing that at this point. That's time spent elsewhere."

Rumor-ville? Just trying to "speak truth to power," to quote you, Jim, from when the scandal first broke. That quote didn't live well. And do you remember what Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti said when he suspended you for the last three games of the regular season in November? If confused, that was your second suspension of the season. You missed the first three games over the recruiting violations in 2020.

Michigan engaged in an “organized, extensive, years-long, in-person, advance scouting scheme spearheaded by analyst Connor Stalions that was impermissible by NCAA rule," Petitti said. "The conference recognizes additional disciplinary actions may be necessary if it receives information concerning the scope and knowledge of, or participation in, the impermissible scheme."

That's a little more than "speculation."

Michigan junior quarterback J.J. McCarthy gave a much better, less-delusional answer toward the possibility of a lost national championship that would be won on the field.

Michigan's J.J. McCarthy: Losing Title Would Be Unfortunate

"You know, from an outside perspective, it would be very unfortunate just to not get recognized for all the hard work we've put in, and everything we've accomplished over this last year," McCarthy said. "But at the end of the day, it's not going to change the amount of accomplishment and the amount of pride for being on this football team. Because we know what we put in. And we know that we did things the right way as players."

Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy discussed the NCAA or the College Football Playoff committee possibly vacating any titles won by the Wolverines this season on Wednesday. (Getty Images)

He is correct at the end there. Players were not doing the illegal scouting and sign stealing. It was low level staffer Connor Stalions, who was at the heart of the scouting and sign stealing system, and likely many others, perhaps all the way to the top. Michigan announced his resignation on Nov. 3.

"Whatever happens with just all the outside controversy is just out of our control," McCarthy said. "And whatever the NCAA wants to do is out of our control. We're going to appreciate the things
we did and control and the things we did accomplish."

Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports asked players on the teleconference about the sign stealing scandal. "Does the knowledge that you have come legitimately?," he asked.

"More of the allegations are coming on the defensive side of the ball," sophomore defensive lineman Mason Graham said. "I feel like we just kind of watch film, and we get tendencies from other teams. And we kind of just pick up on it. I feel like we just have a high football IQ here at Michigan."

How Much Ill-Garnered Info Did Michigan Players Glean?

The question is this, though. Are the players garnering that knowledge for the high football IQ from coaches and staffers who are breaking NCAA rules, whether the players know the information is illegally gathered information or not?

"We go over specific situations multiple times a week," Graham continued. "Just kind of learning more about the game every day, every meeting, just kind of just building that IQ and being smarter football players all around. So, we pick up on things faster, even if it's in-game adjustments. I think little stuff like that. Film study really helped us this year."

What the NCAA will be investigation for months and perhaps years to come will focus on just how much illegal "help" were Michigan's players getting in order to win.

Regardless of what the NCAA or the CFP do, if Michigan wins the national championship Monday night in Houston, fittingly, it could well end up as tainted and cheapened a title as the one the Houston Astros won in 2017 amid a previous sign stealing scandal unearthed in 2017.

Houston still wrongly has that trophy, but an asterisk the size of the moon will hover over it forever. And that's coming from a life-long Astros fan.

Agree? Disagree? Please contact Glenn Guilbeau with your comments on Twitter or X @SportBeatTweet or via email at glenn.guilbeau@outkick.com.