The myth of the NCAA 'Hammer': Ohio State fans got played

Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

For nearly two years, Ohio State fans clung to a fantasy.

The fantasy told them that all of Michigan's success from 2021 to 2023 would be taken away—that wins would be vacated, the national championship would be stripped, and a multi-year postseason ban would be implemented. Hell, some even believed that current head coach Sherrone Moore would be fired as a result of the NCAA investigation. They bought into that fantasy hook, line, and sinker.

The problem? That fantasy never came to fruition.

On Friday, the NCAA announced penalties for the University of Michigan relating to the sign-stealing scheme orchestrated by former staffer Connor Stalions. The harshest penalty came in the form of a fine estimated to exceed $30 million. Former head coach Jim Harbaugh was also hit with a 10-year show-cause penalty for non-compliance, which amounts to very little since he likely has no intention of coaching college football again. Stalions was hit with an 8-year show-cause for orchestrating the scheme, and current head coach Sherrone Moore was given a two-year show-cause and a one-game suspension.

Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

While those penalties aren't ideal, it's far from being the "hammer" that so many believed was coming. As a result, Ohio State fans are now lashing out at the NCAA for failing to do what they were promised would be done.

Those fans were so desperate to undermine Michigan's success that they believed fake "reports" from internet superfans and even a few media members, all insisting that a massive NCAA hammer was about to fall on the Wolverines' football program. These grifters peddled lies not because they had inside knowledge, but because they knew a gullible audience was eager to believe anything that discredited Michigan. The goal wasn't the truth—it was clicks, views, and subscribers. And unfortunately, plenty of Ohio State fans fell for it, fueling podcasts and platforms built almost exclusively on fraud.

Now, the reality is undeniable: Michigan's dominance over Ohio State is legitimate. Michigan's 2023 national championship is legitimate. There are no vacated wins, no postseason bans, and no mythical "hammer" coming to take it all away. The excuses have officially run out.

Of course, the spin will continue. The same voices who pushed the false narratives will twist the NCAA's final ruling, move the goalposts, and still try to paint Michigan's success as illegitimate. But the receipts are out there. For two years, social media was flooded with doomsday predictions that never materialized—and we know who was gullible enough to believe them.

So instead of lashing out at the NCAA for a ruling that anyone grounded in reality saw coming, maybe Ohio State fans should take a hard look in the mirror. You aren't victims of injustice—you're victims of your own wishful thinking.

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