The Michigan football investigation keeps getting juicer.
Tuesday night, ESPN’s Pete Thamel and Mark Schlabach reported that, per sources, suspended Michigan staffer Conor Stalions bought tickets to games involving four schools outside the Big Ten that were either in College Football Playoff contention or playing a school that was.
NEW: From ESPN sources:
*Connor Stalions bought tickets to four different campus games of four CFP contenders last year.
*There’s record of purchases of SEC title game tickets in 2021 and 2022
*Twelve of 13 B10 schools have record of him buying tickets. https://t.co/UJCbpMz0bz— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) October 24, 2023
There’s also record of purchased made for the past two SEC championship games, each pitting Alabama against Georgia. Additionally, 12 of the 13 other Big Ten schools have record of Stalions purchasing tickets.
ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg reported that the Big Ten doesn’t have to wait for the ongoing NCAA Investigation to be over to punish Michigan.
According to Big Ten's sportsmanship policy, commissioner Tony Petitti has "exclusive authority" to see if offensive actions have occurred, and to impose discipline. Policy lists "integrity of the competition" as a fundamental element Big Ten members must uphold. https://t.co/e97aRCFkVl
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) October 24, 2023
“According to the Big Ten’s sportsmanship policy,” Rittenberg tweeted, “commissioner Tony Petitti has ‘exclusive authority’ to see if offensive actions have occurred, and to impose discipline. Policy lists ‘integrity of the competition’ as a fundamental element Big Ten members must uphold.”
ESPN also confirmed that Stalions purchased tickets at 35 games across 17 stadiums, using a network of at least three people who were forwarded the game tickets.
These ESPN reports come a day after another ESPN report surfaced that Stalions purchased tickets on both sides of Ohio Stadium for this past Saturday’s Penn State-Ohio State game.
The day before PSU-OSU, Stalions’s name emerged in another ESPN story relating to the NCAA’s impeding investigation of Michigan for alleged sign stealing.
Michigan suspended Stalions without pay. ESPN’s Pete Thamel tweeted that, per sources, Stalions “bought tickets for more than 30 Big Ten games at 11 Big Ten schools over the past three years.”
Penn State takes on Michigan Nov. 11 at Beaver Stadium. This game is scheduled to kickoff at noon on Fox.
