On the Wednesday Wizengamot, we are here to declare and issue edicts of propriety in sports, and today’s subject matter is the University of Michigan football scandals from 2020-2023 that have only partially been dealt with by the university itself, the NCAA, and the College Football Playoff. Well, in the last case, there’s only been the profiteering from cheating, lying, and stealing committed by the Wolverines. Shameful.

The news earlier this week only serves to remind everyone that Michigan has yet to pay a real price for its crimes against the sport, fans nationwide, and general ethics/morals that are supposed to guide human culture and society. The meaningless suspension of coaches for a few games here and there does not satisfy appropriate punishments for “11 [NCAA] violations, six of which were deemed Level I, or the most serious.”

Letting the university “punish itself” also doesn’t make sense. It already has cleaned up in profits from merchandising sales and financial “rewards” for winning football games illicitly. The president of the college also has escaped criticism and responsibility for allowing these scandals to occur by leaving town for the presidency of another higher-education institution—ironically, one in the $EC, that “holy” place.

The NCAA has the power to do the right thing here, and it should: Michigan should be stripped of all its wins that occurred during the numerous violations that were committed by former coaches and current staffers—which basically means going back to the first infractions, which were illegal recruiting practices during the Covid aftermath (2020-2021). Otherwise, as we pointed out months ago, the NCAA is lying.

About its mission and values, for sure. There is no equity when schools are allowed to cheat for victory without proper consequences and punishment. Who mourns for the “student athletes” (ahem) who were denied a fair chance to win by the skullduggery of the Wolverines? Where is justice for those victims here? And we’re just talking about the kids themselves. What about the fans across the country who suffered?

We state that half in jest but full in earnest: when any fan has an emotional, vested interest in a team (college or pro), and their team loses to a team that is found to have cheated, where is the restitution there? We think of teams that lost World Series to the cheating Boston Red Sox, San Francisco Giants, and Houston Astros. We think of teams that lost Super Bowls to the cheating New England Patriots, as well.

Pro sports are a different realm, of course, and we never expect them to do the right thing, sadly, even in the moment. But if the NCAA wants to continue pretending it is a bastion of—something—as stated in its very public mission, it has to punish the University of Michigan where it hurts: not only the pocketbook but in the historical record of athletic lore. We’re not saying “death penalty” here … just vacating fraudulent wins.

Again, most of the money already has been pocketed by the university and the college football system itself. But no one should ever pretend again that the Wolverines did not cheat to win something they hadn’t been able to win cleanly since 1997—and there’s even proof they didn’t win cleanly in 1997, either. See that pattern as we have pointed out? Big fan base; long-term suffering; cheating to win … untold profiteering.

Only the NCAA can do the right thing here, and it’s long overdue now, more than 15 months after the fact.