The Michigan football team has been the talk of the town as of late after the NCAA officially handed out its punishment regarding the sign-stealing investigation. The Wolverines were hit with a fine, a suspension for head coach Sherrone Moore, some show-cause penalties and more. However, rival fans wanted to see vacated wins and postseason bans. Michigan won the national title in 2023, and there are still some people that are having trouble accepting that reality.
After Connor Stalions resigned in 2023, the Michigan football team beat Penn State, Ohio State, Iowa, Alabama and Washington en route to winning the national title. Four of those teams were ranked in the top 10, and all five were ranked. It was an impressive run, and yet, some people still don't think that the Wolverines earned it. Fox analyst Aaron Torres think that is “laughable.”
“The Big Ten made the unprecedented move to suspend Jim Harbaugh *mid season* without investigation,” Torres said in a post. “They beat OSU, PSU, Bama + Washington post Connor Stalions. The notion their title is tainted is laughable. They were the best team in 2023. By a mile.”
When the investigation broke during the 2023 season, rival fans paraded social media saying that Michigan was going to lose to Penn State now that the team couldn't “cheat.” When the Wolverines beat the Nittany Lions, then it switched to Ohio State. Then Alabama. After that, it became pretty clear that Michigan was just better than everyone else.
“It wasn't because of sign stealing,” Torres said. “It was because they had the best team and, oh, by the way, that's not even my opinion at this point. That's an objective fact.”
That 2023 Michigan team was loaded with NFL talent on both sides of the ball. The Wolverines sent 13 players to the NFL that year. That's why they won it all.
“You know who produced the most NFL players in 2023? Yeah, the Michigan Wolverines did after that national championship, 13 picks overall, one of the biggest hauls of NFL Draft prospects ever,” Torres continued. “So don't tell me it was only because they had signs. No, they had 13 players drafted that year, JJ McCarthy, Blake Corum, on and on.”
On top of that, Michigan had three first-rounders this year who were also on the 2o23 team, and that doesn't include Will Johnson, who slipped to the second round because of an injury.
“Worth noting this past year, three guys that were part of that team also went in the first round, Mason Graham to the Cleveland Browns, Kenneth, Grant on the defensive line, and of course, Colston Loveland to the Bears,” Torres added. “Will Johnson also would have been a first round pick this year if he hadn't been injured. So on top of it, 13 guys picked two years ago. You had four essential first-rounders on your team this year.”
People will try to devalue what the Michigan football team did in 2023 because they don't like the program. However, like NCAA president Charlie Baker said, the Wolverines won it all fair and square.