When the University of Michigan finally beat Ohio State in 2021 and went on to play in the College Football Playoff for the first time ever, we (mostly) accepted the crazy turnaround from a terrible 2020 season as a fluke, at the very least. But when the Wolverines did it again in 2022, we got a little more suspicious. Now, with Michigan again undefeated toward the end days of October 2023, it’s become something really wacky.

After all, any good criminal law professor will tell you these realities: once is a fluke; twice is a coincidence; but three times is a pattern. The trick perhaps is identifying the pattern, and so much of that is based on precedence. In six seasons before 2021, Head Coach Jim Harbaugh posted a very good record of 49-22 at Michigan. But he was 0-5 against the Buckeyes, and the program hit rock bottom with a 2-4 record in 2020.

A lot of teams struggled during Covid, but the Wolverines actually ducked Ohio State in the final game of that season rather than suffer yet another humiliating defeat at the hands of their main rival. Nothing could have been more shameful for Michigan, and after six years of Harbaugh, there was no reason to think the Wolverines program would ever regain any of its former glory. There was a pattern in place, and firmly.

Yet since December 2020 when Michigan chickened out of playing Ohio State, the Wolverines have recovered to post a high-end success: the team has been 32-3 since that seminal moment of surrender. Obviously, something is different, and we got the usual garbage myth making from the mediots gaining financially from reinvigorated interest in the Michigan football program: hard work, focus, pride, etc. Right.

In 2021 and 2022, the Wolverines beat the Buckeyes by a combined 87-50 score. Did Ohio State suddenly forget how to play football? No, as the Buckeyes actually pushed eventual CFP champion Georgia to the very limit last year in the playoff semifinals. So what was Michigan doing differently all of a sudden? Well, we now have some answers, and like an age-30 hitter in baseball suddenly finding his stroke, it all stinks.

Strike 1: Matt Weiss and the Mysterious Case of “Illegally Accessing Computer Files“

There still is not a lot of information out there about this case, but it was the first moment that really jumped out at us, since Weiss had a long history with both Jim and John Harbaugh. What did Weiss suddenly get caught doing that was “new” action? Still waiting for answers on this situation, of course, and only time will tell. But clearly the House of Harbaugh in Ann Arbor was showing some of its new cracks.

Strike 2: Harbaugh Recruited Illegally and Then He Tried to Lie About It

We’re not even going to bother trying to explain this one, but Harbaugh broke some recruiting rules and then tried to deflect/lie about it to the NCAA. Obviously, he knew he had something to hide, and if this was such a minor transgression as the locals try to spin it, then why did Jimbo feel the need to lie to and misdirect the investigation? Good questions. Either way, Harbaugh’s reputation isn’t the greatest right now.

Strike 3: Sign Stealing Going Back Before 2022, Evidently

It’s no coincidence that Tom Brady played at the University of Michigan, is it? Because it reads like SpyGate has come to Ann Arbor. More than anything, this kind of cheating makes the most sense in explaining just how Harbaugh suddenly learned to coach dramatically better in his 15th season in college and the NFL combined. You can teach a dog new tricks if you show him how to steal stuff, basically.

Conclusion: Michigan Cheats, so Is Anyone Going to Do Anything About It?

This is the million-dollar question. We have seen the NCAA refuses to firmly punish basketball money-making machines at the University of Kansas and the University of North Carolina. Heck, even a good basketball team at a football school gets a pass these days if there is money to be made. Michigan’s sports brand is among the best in the nation, so we don’t expect the NCAA to do much about this, sadly.

But the truth is out: Michigan cheats, and we all can be pretty sure we know how/why now. Harbaugh took a page out of The Bill Belichik Playbook when they met in 2018, even if it took him awhile to implement some of the dirtier stuff. Hopefully, enough people will realize that the Wolverines are a fraud—including the CFP selection committee. The last thing college football needs is more corruption and greed ruling the day.