It was reported on Tuesday by Sam Webb of 247Sports that the appeal for Shea Patterson was submitted Monday to the NCAA and Ole Miss by the Michigan compliance department, along with Thomas Mars, the attorney representing the Patterson family.

There was an abundance of information to sift through, with court briefs and the former Ole Miss Houston Nutt lawsuit filed for defamation against the school, among other evidence. All involved in filing wanted to be diligent with this appeal process. This may have taken longer than Michigan fans had hoped, but the wait is almost over.

The 10-Day Window

The appeal process has a 10-day window from when it’s filed with the NCAA. Now that it’s been filed, the NCAA will send it to Ole Miss to either support, object, or simply not say anything, since there’s no obligation on their part to respond. This is also the first appeal of the seven former Ole Miss players to be filed with the NCAA, so this will set precedent on how the other six will be handled.

I believe that Ole Miss will remain silent in this process and not respond to the NCAA. This is my opinion based on all the detailed evidence involved and what the situation is with the players. Knowing this is the first of seven appeals

Once the NCAA hears from Ole Miss, or the 10-day period of March 12 expires, the NCAA case manager will be assigned to the appeal. There are then three from the legislative relief committee, who are NCAA employees.

While there is no set deadline for the NCAA to make a decision, those close to the situation believe it to be right around the time spring practice begins and also are confident that he will be granted immediate eligibility. Michigan will likely plan for his appeal to go in their favor and approach spring practice that way no matter what day they hear the decision.

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