The NCAA could’ve done the Tennessee Vols a solid last week.

And they absolutely should’ve.

But they didn’t.

Which isn’t a surprise if you’re a Tennessee fan — the NCAA never seems to do the Vols any favors.

Last week, the NCAA handed down the “punishment” for the Michigan Wolverines’ sign-stealing scandal.

Michigan was hit with a fine that could reach $30 million, head coach Sherrone Moore was hit with an additional game suspension, and former Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh received a 10-year show cause band.

Former Michigan staffer Connor Stallions, the mastermind behind the sign-stealing scandal, received an eight-year show cause ban.

“The true scope and scale of the [sign-stealing] scheme, including the competitive advantage it afforded, will never be fully known due to individuals’ intentional destruction and withholding of materials and information. But the intent was clear — to gain a substantial competitive advantage,” said Norman Bay, the chief hearing officer for the NCAA committee on infractions panel (via ESPN). “You don’t put together a network of individuals called the ‘KGB’ that records what they call ‘dirty film’ where the cost of doing this is in the tens of thousands of dollars over three seasons unless you intend to gain a substantial competitive advantage.”

Those are some stiff penalties, but the Wolverines avoided the worst possible outcome — there was no post-season ban handed down by the NCAA. And that’s really unbelievable. Michigan blatantly broke the rules to gain a competitive advantage, which undoubtedly impacted the outcome of multiple games. We’ve seen a lot of post-season bans over the years — many of which weren’t deserved — but one of the largest cheating scandals in the history of the sport somehow wasn’t deemed worthy of a post-season ban. It’s truly unfathomable that the NCAA came to that conclusion.

If the NCAA had done the right thing and hit Michigan with a post-season ban, then it almost certainly would’ve resulted in an advantage for Tennessee in the recruiting battle for 2026 five-star running back Savion Hiter.

Hiter, who is set to announce his commitment on Tuesday (August 19) is expected to land with either Michigan or Tennessee.

The Vols are very much a threat to land Hiter, but On3’s Steve Wiltfong still thinks it’ll be Michigan that wins the battle for the elite running back.

“I get the sense staffers around Michigan and Tennessee both feel good while recognizing it could go either way….Will it be the Big Ten or SEC? I’m still going to ride with Michigan,” wrote Wiltfong on Monday.

Tennessee still has a real shot at landing Hiter, but the NCAA’s inaction has made this battle much closer than it should’ve been.

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Zach Ragan