ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — The University of Michigan warned Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti about overstepping his authority and rushing to judgement about an alleged sign-stealing scheme, saying he can’t discipline coach Jim Harbaugh under the conference’s sportsmanship policy. Two people who have seen Michigan’s response to the Big Ten’s notification of potential discipline shared some of its contents with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to share details from the letter. Michigan’s letter states that action can’t be taken by the Big Ten if a formal decision has not been made about whether rules were violated.
UNDATED (AP) — Finally, No. 2 Michigan gets a test. The Wolverines have stomped through the season, crushing opponents by 34 points per game, the best margin in the country. None of those opponents has been ranked, creating some questions about just how good Michigan is. A trip to No. 9 Penn State will provide an answer. The game is one of two top 10 matchups among Week 11’s most intriguing games.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Aaliyah Edwards scored 23 points and Paige Bueckers made her long-awaited return from injury as No. 2 UConn opened its season Wednesday with a 102-58 rout of Dayton. It was Bueckers’ first game since the Huskies loss to South Carolina in the 2022 national championship game, a span of 584 days. The former National Player of the Year missed all of last year and much of her sophomore season with two separate knee injuries. She scored eight points in 21 minutes Wednesday while on a coach-imposed minutes restriction. Azzi Fudd had 13 points for UConn. Aubrey Griffin added 12, Qadence Samuels scored 11 and Nika Muhl and Caroline Ducharme each added 10. Ivy Wolf had 16 points to lead Dayton.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Michigan All-American Blake Corum says he has no business relationship with Connor Stalions, the former Wolverines staffer at the center of an NCAA sign-stealing investigation into the program, and he was unaware of documents filed for a company with his name on them. Wyoming Secretary of State online records show Stalions, Corum and another person listed as organizers for BC2 Housing LLC. The initial filing was made March 28, 2022, and the address listed for the business was in Ann Arbor. Corum was asked Tuesday by reporters about his name being listed on the records. He said the first he had heard of it was a few hours earlier.
UNDATED (AP) — Michigan is preparing to take possible legal action if the Big Ten punishes the football program before a full investigation of allegations of an impermissible scouting and sign-stealing scheme orchestrated by a low-level staffer. A person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press about Michigan’s plans but did not provide details.Michigan has been given notification of potential disciplinary action from the conference. The Big Ten gave the school until this week to respond.
UNDATED (AP) — An NCAA review has concluded that the officiating in the national championship game between LSU and Iowa fell short of expectations. The review was pushed up to this summer after criticism about the calls in the game. LSU beat Iowa for its first national title. NCAA vice president for women’s basketball Lynn Holzman says officials were graded on the accuracy of their calls and the overall number was lower than it should have been. She says work will be done to improve.
UNDATED (AP) — After a season that saw over a 33% increase in technical fouls, women’s college basketball is putting a renewed emphasis on sportsmanship this year. Last season there were 830 total technical fouls called, up from 606 the season before. That included a 77% increase on techs given to head coaches and a whopping 193% increase on technical fouls assessed to personnel on the bench. Fighting was also a big problem last year, including incidents in a game between George Washington and TCU as well one between Georgia and VCU. There was a 400% increase in bench personnel ejections as a result.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Joe Taylor may not be a name you know on Michigan’s football roster. The second-ranked Wolverines are well the the contributions made by the walk-on and many other players that pay for their tuition, room, board and books. Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh says you can’t put a value on that on the contributions walk-ons make for the team. Minnesota, Wisconsin and Nebraska are among the Big Ten schools that lean on players who are not on scholarship.
