Update 12:05 p.m. Michigan AD Warde Manuel responds:
Michigan Athletic Director Warde Manuel for the win: pic.twitter.com/424gzcCTSI
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 11, 2023
Update 10:30 a.m. There will be no hearing for a temporary restraining order today, and Jim Harbaugh will not be on the sidelines for today’s game vs. Penn State.
There will not be a ruling today in Jim Harbaugh’s request for a temporary restraining order, according to a person familiar with the court filings. This means Jim Harbaugh will not coach at Penn State today.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) November 11, 2023
After rolling through the early part of their 2023 college football schedule, the No. 2 Michigan Wolverines will meet the No. 9 Penn State Nittany Lions Saturday in a matchup with major national title and Big Ten implications on Saturday.
And now there’s an added layer to this contest, as the Big Ten conference brought down the foam hammer on head coach Jim Harbaugh by suspending him from coaching games from the sideline for the rest of the 2020 regular season. Harbaugh remains allowed to coach during the week in practices.
Michigan says it intends to appealing via the court system, hoping it would allow Harbaugh to coach while the investigation is ongoing. The Wolverines say they have cooperated with the investigation and will look to have their head coach on the sidelines Saturday.
So will Harbaugh coach against the Nittany Lions on Saturday?
Given the timing of these events, it’s highly unlikely the conference allows him to even enter the stadium. Michigan was already en route to Happy Valley when these decisions happened and they’ll claim they weren’t given enough time to prepare, but that likely won’t mean anything.
Barring a last-minute temporary restraining order from a judge issued in either Michigan or Pennsylvania, it seems likely there will be someone else making the key decisions for Michigan on Saturday against Penn State. But since UM is apparently running to the courthouse steps as we speak, we’ll post here if anything changes via the justice system. Lawyers and college football go together like red Solo cups and tailgating, so we can’t wait to see what happens between now and the noon ET kickoff tomorrow.
The Wolverines are 4-point favorites at DraftKings Sportsbook, priced at -192 on the moneyline. The total comes in at 44.5.