Big Ten bans Harbaugh; Michigan files for restraining order - ESPN

The Big Ten has suspended Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh for the remainder of the regular season as the league disciplines the program under its sportsmanship policy amid the ongoing NCAA investigation into the school's in-person sign-stealing ring.

Harbaugh and the university, however, requested a temporary restraining order in Washtenaw County Trial Court on Friday night. They filed an emergency ex parte motion, which if granted, would give the judge the ability to stop Harbaugh's suspension before hearing arguments from the defendants — the Big Ten Conference and commissioner Tony Petitti.

The judge could rule on the restraining order before the No. 3 Wolverines' critical road game against No. 10 Penn State (8-1) on Saturday at noon. Michigan's plane landed in Pennsylvania on Friday afternoon, shortly before the suspension was announced.

Michigan was found to be in violation of the Big Ten's sportsmanship policy for «conducting an impermissible, in-person scouting operation over multiple years, resulting in an unfair competitive advantage that compromised the integrity of competition,» the conference said in a statement.

In a 13-page letter sent to Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel, Petitti said that, in an effort to sanction the university, he decided to suspend Harbaugh because it would allow the team to play out the rest of its season while still providing substantial consequences for the team violating the Big Ten's policies.

«This is not a sanction of Coach Harbaugh,» the conference said in its report. «It is a sanction against the University that, under the extraordinary circumstance presented by this offensive conduct, best fits the violation.»

Harbaugh's suspension bans him from the «game venue» on game