Sources - NCAA to rule on Michigan sign-stealing scandal Friday - ESPN

The NCAA Committee on Infractions' long-awaited ruling in the University of Michigan's advanced scouting case will be publicly announced Friday, sources told ESPN, as involved parties were made aware of the upcoming release on Thursday.

The NCAA is expected to hold a news conference early Friday afternoon to detail the findings, sources told ESPN. It will potentially mark the conclusion of one of the most explosive, strange and controversial cases in the long history of NCAA enforcement.

The NCAA charged Michigan and numerous coaches and staffers with 11 violations — six of them Level I, the most serious — in relation to a sign-stealing operation overseen by former staffer Connor Stalions.

Stalions is alleged to have arranged people to attend games and film the sideline signals involving future Michigan opponents from 2021 to the middle of the 2023 season, when the scheme was uncovered and Stalions resigned.

Stealing signs in games is not against NCAA rules, but schools are not allowed to advance scout opponents in person. Evidence emerged of Stalions purchasing tickets at nearly every Big Ten school.

According to a draft of the NCAA notice of allegations obtained by ESPN, Stalions arranged the impermissible scouting of at least 13 Michigan future opponents on at least 58 occasions between 2021 and 2023. That included scouting opponents multiple times, including one team they scouted seven times in 2022, according to the draft.

Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore is expected to be suspended for at least two games in the upcoming season for deleting a thread of 52 text messages with Stalions. One of the mysteries of the upcoming ruling is whether that self-imposed sanction of two games will be accepted, or if they'll be