When the Michigan Wolverines pulled out a 34-13 win over the Washington Huskies to win the 2024 College Football Playoff National Championship, there were detractors almost immediately.
To some, Michigan’s championship is tainted due to the sign-stealing allegations that led to a settlement and three-game suspension for head coach Jim Harbaugh.
The Big Ten’s investigation concluded with the settlement and suspension, but the NCAA’s is still ongoing.
Speaking to the media this week at the annual NCAA convention, Baker said, via The Athletic, that the Wolverines “were the better team,” and “won fair and square.”
Baker also defended the unprecedented decision for the NCAA to share details and documents of the ongoing investigation with the Big Ten, so the conference could issue in-season discipline as it saw fit. “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.
He also noted that it was important for the Big Ten and Michigan to both be able to act before the regular season ended so as to not potentially taint future games, saying, “It might affect the outcome of games, and I don’t believe, at the end of the season, that it did, and I think that’s important.”
