Michigan sign-stealing allegations: More details emerge on Connor Stalions reportedly buying tickets outside of Big Ten
As the Michigan sign-stealing scandal continues to unfold, more and more details about the scale of the operation have come to light.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported the latest on Tuesday evening, noting that employee Connor Stalions, who is at the center of the saga, bought tickets to four different campus games of four College Football Playoff contenders last year.
Thamel also reported that there are records of SEC title game ticket purchases from 2021 and 2022.
Finally, twelve of the other 13 Big Ten schools have record of Stalions buying tickets.
The scope of alleged activity calls into question just how widespread knowledge of the operation was and whether it was limited to Stalions himself. That will obviously be a question of some import as the investigation continues.
But as things stand it certainly appears that there was considerable time and effort put into scouting other opponents to try to gain a leg up. And purportedly there’s evidence that Michigan used equipment that would be illegal as a means of recording future opponents’ signals.
Michigan investigation could take some time
One thing that will make the Michigan investigation tricky in terms of doling out appropriate punishment is that there are a lot of moving parts. Gathering hard evidence will take some time.
That’s something ESPN analyst Mark Schlabach pointed out while discussing the issue on the Paul Finebaum Show.
“I don’t see how it can move quickly,” Schlabach said. “I think the only way anything would happen to Michigan during this season is if the Big Ten stepped in and did something to the Wolverines out of sportsmanship wise or the integrity of the playing field in the league. I’m sure the Big Ten’s got 13 really upset programs right now who believe that Michigan was illegally scouting them and stealing their signals and that it wasn’t an even playing field when they when Michigan.
“But you know how the NCAA operates, the enforcement staff, they move at a glacial pace. Let’s say that they worked at hyper-speed and got a notice of allegations to Michigan in mid-November. Michigan has 90 days to respond. That puts it at what? December, January, mid February. The College Football Playoff, the Big Ten Championship Game have come and gone. I’d be shocked if anything comes out.”