ESPN.com writer Bill Connelly broke down the top 16 national title contenders in the form of how many significant question marks — “ifs” — they had moving into the 2024 campaign. Michigan has five, which we give our thoughts on below.

The Michigan Wolverines are getting ready to hit the practice field this week for the start of fall camp in the lead-up to the 2024 season. But, as we have been used to in this sector, the promise of delight of U-M getting back into the swing of things seems to come with some form of cloud or distraction.

Enter the NCAA’s supposedly upcoming notice of allegations scheduled to drop imminently – per our Chris Balas – for its sign-stealing claims. Level I infractions are on the table for former staffer Connor Stalions and others, but what might *actually* be on the table from a disciplinary perspective? We are still months, if not years, away from learning that.

TheWolverine.com’s Anthony Broome and Clayton Sayfie addressed the news drop on Monday, and what the process truly looks like.

“We had heard about a month ago that the NCAA wrapped up the interviews that they did for the investigation,” Sayfie stated on the podcast. “Now they draft up a notice of allegations, maybe the draft is already there, or Michigan’s going to get it soon. It’s crucial to note too that with this, it’s going to be maybe a level one for Connor stallions, we’ve yet to see proof that bylaw 11.6.1 was actually broken. People seem to fail to give that evidence or that proof, even when they say he bought tickets or something. That’s not against the rules.

“But anyway, those violations will be out there. There will be no consequence with the notice of allegations that comes considerably later. Michigan will have 90 days to reply once they get the notice of allegations…. the NCAA then has a period where they can respond to that. You either go to a hearing in front of the committee on infractions or you resolve the problem yourself. They may still do that as well during this period where you don’t go to a hearing if they do try to come down with some sort of punishment, like last year Jim Harbaugh was going to face a 4-game ban was the initial thing regarding cheeseburger gate, then Michigan wanted to make it three. They self-imposed.

“So there are all these different routes you could go. Self-imposed, you go to the committee hearing and they give you a sentence. You could also go to court. Tennessee did that over dozens of infractions. So we’ll see what comes of that, but I don’t think any penalty is coming anytime soon and we’ll have to wait for that.

“Ohio State fans will be waiting with bated breath, but it’ll be interesting to see exactly what comes of it. And if they have any proof that Connor Stalions did break this regulation that was set due to cost-cutting reasons back in 1992.”