STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (NewsNation) — In the wake of an alleged sign-stealing scheme, the Big Ten Conference on Friday banned Michigan head football coach Jim Harbaugh from coaching the university’s three remaining regular-season games.

Harbaugh’s suspension, which at this point does not include the postseason, comes after someone submitted to the NCAA that Michigan had an elaborate sign-stealing scheme that included allegations of a Michigan staffer buying tickets and sending people to games to videotape the team’s signals.

Chris Vannini, a senior writer at The Athletic, told “NewsNation Now” that sending someone to advance scout teams in person is against NCAA rules. He said what Michigan is accused of is outside what’s considered normal for football teams.

“No one’s gone to that extent. Everybody looks for signals. You spend the week looking at the TV broadcast, looking at the game film, to try to figure it out. But to go to the extent that you would have somebody go to a game and videotape it, that is very, very clearly against the rules and against the spirit of everything,” Vannini said.

Vannini explained the in-person aspect of the allegations makes this stand out to the NCAA and Big Ten. He said the Big Ten claims it has proof the supposed scheme was going on for at least the last three years and realized it needed to take action now. The conference maintains the “in-person scouting operation” resulted in “an unfair competitive advantage that compromised the integrity of the competition.”

The Big Ten disciplined Harbaugh less than 24 hours before the Wolverines face off against No. 9 Penn State, which is considered their toughest matchup of the season so far.

“The Big Ten said this is such a major violation that the conference had to go ahead and do something. The suspension just came down minutes ago,” Vannini said.

Michigan is reportedly prepared to take possible legal action to stop the suspension ahead of the Penn State game, but seeking any court order may prove difficult before Saturday’s game since Friday is the recognized federal holiday for Veteran’s Day, and most courts are closed.

“But it is late Friday,” Vannini said. “Michigan just landed in Pennsylvania at Penn State, so a lot is happening right now.”

If the ban stands, what’s next?

“If Michigan wins the rest of its games, they will play for the Big Ten, and Jim Harbaugh will be back to lead it. But clearly, this is a fight that is very far from over. Michigan is vehemently going to fight back on this and try to get Harbaugh back on the sideline,” Vannini said.

Michigan has a shot to win a third straight Big Ten title and the university’s first national championship since 1997. The NCAA’s investigation into the alleged sign-stealing scheme is ongoing.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.