A long, drawn-out drama has been unfolding at Michigan for two years. Now, it’s knocking on the doors of the NCAA President Charlie Baker. Commenting about the investigation of the sign-stealing scandal, Warde Manuel dragged the boss man into the mess, too. The Wolverines are yet to escape the shadows of the scandal, which is awaiting a final verdict even now. Rival fans and experts are investigating and voicing suspicions: something is amiss.

To give a gist of the scandal, Wolverines Defense Analyst Connor Stalions allegedly used inappropriate measures to steal opponents’ signs. There’s hard evidence of him being physically present in games of future opponents to analyze their game. The NCAA then opened an investigation into the matter, but a verdict has yet to be reached. Michigan was able to compete in the season amidst the scandal and won the national title as well. This is where fans think the NCAA and Michigan are being unjust.

Warde Manuel clarified yesterday that he has not had “any conversation about any postseason ban or penalties that are coming.” To seal the deal, he said, “What I can point to is Charlie Baker, when we won the championship, said they won it fair and square […] [T]hat gives me some sense that they understand that this was a team who won that championship fair and square.”

While Manuel may think some good has come by way of his very far-reaching statement, Ohio State fans are absolutely not happy. Zack Smith and Kris Drew of the Menace 2 Sports show on YouTube are certain that Manuel is fibbing. In a March 18 video, Drew underlines the basis of this dialogue, “This is all strategy, and it is all about PR optics. We monitored it; this whole thing’s been a PR NCAA vs Michigan kind of deal.” He also said that it was “fascinating” of Manuel to be pairing the idea of a ban and Baker’s angle together. “How do they correlate? They don’t,” declared Smith. He decided to say Manuel was “full of cheeseburger-induced s***.” “We’re talking about a postseason ban for the illegality of Connor Stalions and what he did.”

Smith added that the reason Baker said that the Wolverines won fair and square was because Stalions was fired mid-season. “They’re not penalizing you for winning the championship fair and square […] They’re gonna penalize you for the illegal s*** you were doing.” So far, the only major punishment Michigan has imposed on itself was getting Jim Harbaugh to leave camp. Manuel is likely trying to sweep it all under the rug here. The twist here is him throwing Baker under the bus, too.

Is Manuel Warde twisting Charlie Baker’s words?

Drew supposed that this comment was Manuel covering for himself by putting the ball in Baker’s court. “He said we won it fair and square. So if he punishes us, then he’s contradicting himself.” With this comment, Drew thinks that Baker “can’t take this away from (Michigan).” He adds another angle to it, too: maybe Manuel is cementing the reality of their win and is, therefore, not “vacating the title.” He said that the subtext here was that Michigan “[didn’t] want to vacate the title because Charlie said ‘we won it fair and square.’”

Now, this whole ‘fair and square’ debacle happened way back in January last year. Baker, when announcing that the investigation is underway, said, “[N]o one believes at this point that Michigan didn’t win that national title fair and square.” So far, the only outcome of this whole scenario is Stalions and former head coach Jim Harbaugh leaving camp. Michigan is all set to begin their season, and according to Manuel, there’s no need to worry about bans.

Fans are mad about this fiasco because the NCAA is doing very little to properly punish Michigan. Everyone knows that the staff went out of line; Michigan knows it, too. Why is the NCAA yet to arrive at a solid statement after 2 years since the scandal? Will Michigan see no rebuke of any kind for their wrongdoing? The spirit of the game is being maligned in the process of saving the faces of both the NCAA and Michigan. And it’s not looking good for the Michigan AD or Baker.