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We have a new #1 team this week in the SwampSwamiSports.com College Football Top 25 rankings. The Michigan Wolverines are America’s only 8-0 team as our former #1 team (7-0 Georgia) had the weekend off to get ready for this week’s game against 6-2 Florida.
Coach Jim Harbaugh’s Michigan football team is under the media’s microscope right now. Allegations are surfacing daily about whether Michigan’s staff has been cheating.
Though baseball is better known for stealing signs from the other team, the Big Ten’s finger pointers are saying that Michigan may have been up to some nefarious activities recently.
With such a soft schedule, 8-0 Michigan hasn’t needed to cheat in order to down so many pastries this season.
The cheating allegations are a bit complicated, so I will try to keep this simple.
First, there is nothing in the NCAA rule book which prohibits a college football team from trying to lip-read the opposing coaches or the players during a “live” game. Have you noticed how many coaches are holding what appears to be a large restaurant menu as they try to avoid having their lips read while calling in a play from the sidelines?
I think it would be funny if the TV cameras caught something like this along the sidelines this weekend.
In Michigan’s case, the other Big Ten schools want to know if an employee of the Wolverines has been attending other team’s football games and performing some creative filming of coaches, play calls, or anything else which could be used to tip-off an upcoming play.
So sayeth the NCAA rule book: “Any attempt to record, either through audio or video means, any signals given by an opposing player, coach or other team personnel is prohibited.”
Again, it’s not a violation to do this during a “live” game. However, it is not OK to go into other teams’ stadiums to film and make audio recordings in an attempt to dissect the results to identify possible trends in order to scheme against a future opponent.
By the way, this is not the same as watching the game film from a television broadcast. Networks rarely show sideline interactions as the majority of viewers want to watch action on the field of play. Michigan’s alleged video snitch is likely trained on the sidelines for most of the game.
How much might this help Michigan? If they can utilize the surveillance to pull off (or prevent) a big play such as a fake punt, it might be the difference between winning and losing a close football game. That’s why the other Big Ten teams want this investigated.
Much like a baseball catcher mixes up the signals from game to game, the college football’s sidelines staffers are smart enough (perhaps?) to change up their signals being sent to the quarterback and the defensive captain from one game to another.
If you’re a Big Ten football team playing Michigan soon, it is a timely idea to make a few changes ASAP!
Of course, Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh is poo-pooing this story as a bunch of whining by other Big Ten teams. However, the trail of football tickets purchased by Michigan’s elusive and quite suspicious “scout” shows that this sneaky person has been in attendance at opposing teams’ stadiums quite regularly.
More to come. Stay tuned!
After 16 straight losses, Nevada finally won a college football game! “Clap for the Wolfpack!”
After almost two years without winning a college football game, the Nevada Wolfpack finally broke through to grab their first victory of 2023 last Saturday. On the road playing San Diego State in just brutal Southern California weather conditions (clear skies and a game time temperature of 72 degrees), an epic defensive struggle ensued between the home town Aztecs and the visiting Wolfpack last Saturday.
The Nevada Wolfpack (now 1-6) converted two (count ’em!) field goals in the first half then held on to take a decisive 6-0 win. More than 27,000 San Diego State fans in attendance were probably quite unhappy with their team’s measly 200 yards of total offense (Pittsburgh Steelers fans feel your pain). Fortunately, San Diego State has a “bye” this week to rest their weary offense prior to their next game on November 4.
Saturday’s victory by the Wolfpack left only one FBS team without a win in 2023.
The Sam Houston Bearkats of Conference USA are now 0-7.
The Kats lost a double overtime thriller to Florida International last week. Of the 133 FBS major college football programs, 132 of them have posted at least one win this season.
The Huntsville, Texas school is playing their first football season in the upper division. The remaining five games look fairly promising for Sam Houston to (we hope) pick-up at least one win before the season ends.
Now, let’s take a look at the SwampSwamiSports.com College Football Top 25 rankings for the week ending Saturday, October 21, 2023:
