Football Season Goes From Bad to Worse

Colleges & Universities A-Z University of Michigan
1

<p>U-M faces penalty for using ineligible player
by Antoine Pitts | The Ann Arbor News
Saturday September 29, 2007, 11:17 PM</p>

<p>EVANSTON, Ill. - Talking to reporters at halftime of Saturday's game, University of Michigan athletic director Bill Martin said the school may be penalized for using an ineligible player in the season's first four games. </p>

<p>Big Ten Conference officials are expected to rule later this week on what punishment U-M may receive for using freshman Artis Chambers.</p>

<p>Sanctions from the conference could include forfeiture of last week's victory over Penn State, Michigan's Big Ten opener.</p>

<p>"We had a misinterpretation of the Big Ten freshman eligibility rules," Martin said. "We found this out Thursday afternoon. When we did, he's no longer going to be a part of the team for the rest of the year."</p>

<p>Chambers, who enrolled in January, appeared on special teams in each of the team's first four games. He was eligible under NCAA guidelines, but not by Big Ten rules.</p>

<p>Martin said he could not confirm whether the problem is an academic ineligibility, citing federal privacy laws. </p>

<p>"We'll have to wait to see what the Big Ten says," Martin said. "I can't rule anything out at this point."</p>

<p>Members of the Big Ten apply academic standards - in terms of grade-point averages, entrance exam scores and transfer credits - that are slightly more stringent than those allowed by the NCAA.</p>

<p>Because it's a conference eligibility issue, Michigan is only facing disciplinary action based on the Penn State game.</p>

<p>Chambers, a safety from Fort Wayne, Ind., will not play again this season. He will continue practicing and maintain his scholarship.</p>

<p>"I'm not going to get into that, other than to say it's a real disappointment," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said in his post-game press conference. "That's all."</p>

<p>Martin said Michigan misapplied an older version of mid-semester freshman eligibility rules in Chambers' case.</p>

<p>"This isn't on Lloyd, it's on us," Martin said.</p>

2

<p>This isn’t actually decided yet, right? Let’s hope for the best.</p>

3

<p>Corect, not decided - yet. But can you imagine what this does to team moral?</p>

4

<p>who really cares?</p>

5

<p>the players are just about all on the special track anyways.</p>

6

<p>Nobody on the team cares, and nothing will come of it as it was self-reported, and making Michigan forfeit a Big Ten win because somebody who blocked on a few kickoffs wasn’t eligible under a recently changed Big Ten-only technicality really ruins any kind of incentive for self-reporting.</p>

7

<p>Nobody on the team cares about whether they might have to foreit the Penn State game?</p>

<p>“I’m not going to get into that, other than to say it’s a real disappointment,” Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said in his post-game press conference.</p>

<p>Apparently, Lloyd cares.</p>

<p>Do you really think Martin would say, “I can’t rule anything out” and let this hang over the program if foreiture was not a real possiblity? I would be very concerned that the Big Ten would come down hard on UM, even given self-reporting, because it is such a high profile program.</p>

8

<p>It is now moot–and the title of this thread isn’t right. Unless something really embarrassing happens at the EMU game. :)</p>

<p>KNOCK WOOD.</p>

<p>Anyway, I submit:</p>

<p>ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The Big Ten Conference Compliance and Reinstatement Subcommittee ruled today (Thursday, Oct. 4) that the University of Michigan will not be required to forfeit any 2007 football games.</p>

<p>The Michigan Athletic Department reported an administrative error involving Artis Chambers (Fort Wayne, Ind./Snider HS) to the Big Ten Conference Office. Chambers, who retains his athletic scholarship and can continue practicing with the team, will miss the remainder of the season.</p>

9

<p>Do you really think Martin would say, “I can’t rule anything out” and let this hang over the program if foreiture was not a real possiblity?</p>

<p>I know that Carr and Martin know better than to publicly say it’s a non-issue and possibly incite the Big Ten into doing something.</p>

10

<p>That’s good news, particularly since the Big Ten had publicly stated that it could take 3 weeks to resolve. </p>

<p>Dilksy is attributing astute behavior to Carr - now that’s something I haven’t seen lately. :-)</p>

11

<p>Uh huh.</p>

<p>When Michigan does it, it’s an “error”</p>

<p>When it is a team like Minnesota, then an example is made of them.</p>

12

<p>I’m sorry, illuminate me–Minnesota made the same error in the same circumstances, and got a different penalty? I don’t follow Big Ten stuff that closely.</p>

13

<p>well big ten sucks anyway becoz we have incompetent teams like indiana…</p>

14

<p>Hmmmmmmm, Indiana: 5-1. Michigan: 4-2.</p>

<p>Don’t know why you chose to attack Indiana, that seemed like a random statement in a Michigan thread where we were talking about Michigan football.</p>

15

<p>I personally like what I am seeing. Yes, we are making some mistakes, but the last two games have not been as close as the final score would indicate. Carr is generally reluctant to run up the score. Michigan could easily have beaten NU 35-16 if he went for it late in the 4th and that’s with 2 missed FGs from sub 40 yard range.</p>

<p>Today, Michigan was leading EMU 33-14 with less than one minute left. </p>

<p>I realize that EMU and NU aren’t exactly world beaters, but NU just beat MSU, so they aren’t exactly chopped liver either. </p>

<p>And PSU may have lost to Illinois, but so did #5 Wisconsin. Illinois is no pushover. They had excellent recruiting classes two years in a row and they play with a we-have-nothing-to-lose, the-World-again-us attitude. And even if Illinois isn’t that tough, we faced a different PSU than Illinois. The PSU team we faced was undefeated, ranked in the top 10 and very confident. Furthermore, the PSU team we played wanted to beat us more than anything. Michigan’s win streak against the Nittany Lions stood at 8-0 going into that game. I know they wanted to avoid a 9-0 scenario more than anything.</p>

<p>And let us not forget our problems on offense. We lost our only experienced QB for close to three games this season and Manningham didn’t play today. </p>

<p>Overall, it is too early to predict anything. There are 8 more weeks of college football left to be played. I personally like our chances vs OSU because the Michigan vs OSU game almost always hinges on senior leadership and running game and Michigan matches OSU in both of those categories. I have a feeling Mike Hart will be the key to that game…surprise surprise!!! But there is a very tough six-week, six-game stretch coming up. Not one of those games is going to be easy. </p>

<p>In short, this is college football. Anything can happen. Last week, the #3, #4 and #5 teams in the nation all lost. Today, Stanford (with its substitute QB), a team no better than Appalachian State, managed to beat #2 USC in LA. #5 Wisconsin lost to unranked Illinois in Madison. A slew of top 25 teams lost this weekend, including #8 Kentucky, #12 Georgia, #19 Texas, #22 Clemson, #24 Kansas State and #25 Nebraska.</p>

16

<p>hmmm indiana 2-1 big ten
michigan 2-0 big ten</p>

17

<p>I am big Alexandre fan, but I have to disagree on post #15.</p>

<p>Michigan does not look good. Did you see the onside kickoff at the end of the EMU game. That is just flat-out poor coaching. Even the Michigan announcers were flabergasted.</p>

<p>And the statement that Stanford is no better than Appalachian State, on what basis are you making that judgement?</p>

18

<p>Again bearcats, tell me why you are mentioning Indiana? How is it relevant to the thread?</p>

<p>Indiana ranks ahead of Michigan in both the AP and USA Today poll, has a better record, and is higher in the computer polls. It’s not an argument at this point.</p>

<p><a href=“http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/rankingsindex[/url]”>http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/rankingsindex&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/usatpoll.htm[/url]”>http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/usatpoll.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

19

<p>He might have been taking a crappy potshot at Indiana, but it’s also the case that you’re the one that opened up the floor to criticism of the Big Ten. Or did I misread your post? I thought you were critical of the Big Ten’s handling of some Minnesota case vis a vis the Michigan case.</p>

20

<p>SBDad, the special teams are indeed horrible, and the offense is still not working well. But the team has improved. The Defense is tougher and the offense is becoming more consistant. We had better improve with each coming week if we want to finish the season with 10 or more wins. Most of all, we must improve our special teams and our passing game. I suspect once Henne gets in a groove and Manningham returns to the team, our passing game will be fine. The special teams on the other hand need a great deal of help. </p>

<p>As for my comment regarding Stanford, it is merely an opinion. I don’t think Stanford is good. But I guess I may have been wrong. For a #1 team to drop just 6 or 7 spots in the polls after a loss on their own field as USC did, its opponant must have been respectable.</p>