Big Ten reprimands Harbaugh, fines Michigan $10,000 for ref comments

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh's postgame rant on the officiating during the Wolverines' 30-27 double-overtime loss to Ohio State on Saturday has drawn a public reprimand from the Big Ten and $10,000 institutional fine for U-M.

The conference stated in a release today that Harbaugh violated the Big Ten sportsmanship policy.

"The Big Ten determined that Harbaugh's postgame comments regarding officials were in violation of Big Ten Conference Agreement 10.01, which states in part, 'The Big Ten Conference expects all contests involving a member institution to be conducted without compromise to any fundamental element of sportsmanship. Such fundamental elements include integrity of competition, civility toward all, and respect, particularly toward opponents and officials."

The statement added its own commentary: "Coaches are teachers as well, and there is an expectation that they set the example for students and others in the area of sportsmanship. The Big Ten Conference considers this matter concluded and will have no further comment."

U-M athletic director Warde Manuel avoided it as well.

"The Big Ten has made a decision," Manuel said in a released statement. "We also consider this matter concluded and will have no further comment."

Harbaugh's comments that he was "bitterly disappointed in the officiating" dominated his postgame press conference and shined light on the multiple officiating inconsistencies in the game. He cited the fourth-and-1 spot that extended OSU's game-winning drive, spoke about multiple called and uncalled interference penalties and discussed his own unsportsmanlike conduct penalty when he was told it was like a technical foul in basketball.

Harbaugh was previously reprimanded by the Pac-10 in 2008 when he was coaching Stanford and criticized the officials.

The Big Ten did not publicly address the officials' performance.

The reprimand and fine have been previous tools used by the conference for comments about the officials, including Penn State basketball coach Pat Chambers in February 2015. Suspensions on top of that only appear to enter when there is an interaction with an official, such as Maryland men’s soccer coach Sasho Cirovski, who was suspended one game in October 2014.

Contact Mark Snyder at msnyder@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @mark__snyder. Download our Wolverines Xtra appon iTunesandAndroid!