NCAA president says Michigan earned football national title 'fair and square' - ESPN

PHOENIX — NCAA president Charlie Baker said Michigan's football national championship was earned «fair and square,» and that his organization's «unusual decision» to share information about cheating allegations during the season should help to eliminate doubts about the legitimacy of the Wolverines' title run.

Baker said the NCAA decided to alert both Michigan and the Big Ten simultaneously this October after it received «very compelling» information that the Wolverines were involved in a broad and unusual sign-stealing scheme.

Those conversations resulted in the Big Ten suspending coach Jim Harbaugh for the final three games of the regular season. They also prompted Michigan analyst Connor Stalions to resign and the team to fire assistant coach Chris Partridge in November.

Bringing those allegations into the public domain, Baker said, allowed Michigan and its opponents to adjust and erased any potential unfair advantages for the Wolverines during the final month of the regular season and throughout its postseason run.

Michigan completed its 15-0 season by beating five ranked opponents in its final six games, all of which came after Stalions resigned.

«I don't regret doing it because sitting on that information, given the comprehensiveness of it, I think we would have put everyone including Michigan in an awful place,» Baker said Tuesday night while speaking to a small group of reporters at the NCAA Convention. «At the end of the day, no one believes at this point that Michigan didn't win the national title fair and square. So I think we did the right thing.»

The NCAA's investigation into Michigan's alleged cheating scheme remains open. The football program is also under investigation for alleged recruiting violations,