Michigan should fall on the NCAA disciplinary sword today. There will be greater pain in the embarrassment of a once shiny idol dimmed than with the self-imposed sanctions themselves, but such a course would permit the university, its alumni, its football program and its loyal fans to finally close this chapter and move forward.

Admit responsibility. Take the hit. Take the required steps to ensure that infractions don’t happen again. That’s how the NCAA expects its institutions to police themselves.

Michigan’s formal response to the NCAA’s notice of allegations — expected to be submitted today and include self-sanctions — is not merely an admission of guilt, but an opportunity to read the mind of the Committee on Infractions, the long arm of NCAA law, and beat it to the punitive punch.

The NCAA tells its members in these investigative matters: “If you were us, knowing now what you did wrong and how we might respond, how would you punish yourself?”

Respond too leniently and you risk the NCAA coming back later with a hammer.

Beat yourself up too severely and you risk further compromising your program in the long term.

Michigan State bludgeoned itself 15 years ago with sanctions following a thorough internal investigation that uncovered violations that weren’t even a part of the initial accusations against the football program. Some MSU officials maintain to this day that M. Peter McPherson, then the president, imposed a $500 penalty for a $50 crime.

And that still wasn’t enough for the NCAA, which hit the Spartans with more penalties later.

The challenge for Michigan in crystallizing its response wasn’t how serious it considered the violations but how serious the NCAA considered the violations. The NCAA has accused the school of five potential major violations.

Michigan’s transgressions aren’t as significant as academic fraud, making payments to recruits and players, or the dreaded “lack of institutional control” that tripped up MSU 15 years ago. But exceeding practice and training time limits, using quality-control staffers in effect to turn voluntary workouts into mandatory ones, and failing “to promote an atmosphere of compliance” strike at the core of the NCAA mission statement — protecting the student-athlete ideal.

Now, I’ll argue, it’s a fallacy. College football at its highest levels is a full-time job. It’s unrealistic thinking otherwise, but the NCAA nonetheless clings to the pretense of football as a part-time diversion from classrooms and keg parties.

The NCAA won’t easily surrender such comfortable hypocrisy for the sake of cushioning the fall of one of its storied football brands.

What’s more important right now is Michigan holding itself accountable for its actions and taking a decisive step forward in restoring its time-treasured mantra of the Leaders and Best.