NCAA president Charlie Baker stood behind his organization's decision to collaborate with the Big Ten on an investigation into Michigan's sign-stealing scandal on Wednesday, telling reporters "I think we did the right thing." The move led to a three-game suspension for Wolverines coach Jim Harbaugh handed down by the Big Ten.
Michigan weathered the scandal to win the College Football Playoff National Championship with a 34-13 win over Washington on Monday night in Houston.
"At the end of the day, no one believes at this point that Michigan didn't win the national title fair and square," Baker said, according to The Athletic.
The NCAA revealed the findings of its investigation to the Big Ten in November as the NCAA sought to put the investigation on a "very fast timeline."
"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 told reporters gathered at the NCAA's annual convention in Phoenix, Arizona. "As it was, it was out in the public domain and people either made adjustments or didn't."
However, the NCAA's investigation into the sign-stealing is ongoing, meaning the punishment handed out by the Big Ten may not be the end of the matter for the Wolverines. Though Michigan eventually accepted the Big Ten's suspension of Harbaugh, the coach has maintained the program's innocence.
"Off the field issues, we're innocent," Harbaugh said after Michigan's win over Washington. "We stood strong and tall because we knew we were innocent. I'd just like to point that out."
