Santa Ono's letter goes in vain as Michigan receives notice from Big Ten amid rumors of Jim Harbaugh suspension: Reports

The Michigan Wolverines have been dealing with the fallout from their sign-stealing scandal. However, there has been a step in the direction of possible disciplinary actions for the Wolverines by the Big Ten Conference.

ESPN's Adam Rittenburg posted that the Big Ten Conference sent a formal notification of potential disciplinary actions.

The letter sent here is part of what the Big Ten Conference has to do, according to their sportsmanship policy.

University of Michigan president Santa Ono earlier sent a letter to Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti, urging for fairness and waiting until the NCAA investigation concludes. However, Petitti has the authority to lay down discipline before the investigation concludes.

The Michigan Wolverines have to respond formally by Wednesday. ESPN is also reporting that the punishment would not be a team-related punishment but rather a suspension for Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh.

Why would Jim Harbaugh be punished in the Michigan sign-stealing scandal?

Wolverines coach Jim Harbaugh is in a weird situation as he is the main figure of the football program. Pat Fitzgerald was sacked earlier this year for apparently not knowing what was going on in his program, so the Wolverines' HC can be punished in the same way.

This would not be the first suspension that Jim Harbaugh would be forced to serve this season, as Michigan imposed a three-game suspension to begin the year after it was announced that Harbaugh violated the NCAA COVID-19 dead period by communicating with recruits.

The sign-stealing scandal could have gone beyond Harbaugh's knowledge, as it has been linked to staffer Connor Stalions, who resigned on Friday. Harbaugh, being the top person in this Wolverines program, can face severe consequences in the ongoing investigation.

Would the punishment include vacating any games?

While the Big Ten could have the power to issue a suspension to coach Jim Harbaugh, Tony Petitti does not have the power to vacate any games. If that were to be part of the discipline, that would come as a result of the NCAA investigation that is still ongoing as of this writing.

While there is no date for when the NCAA investigation will be completed, it will be intriguing to see what new information becomes available.