Instant Replay for Big Ten Football?

NCAA recommends instant replay for Big Ten football in 2004

INDIANAPOLIS (Ticker) - The NCAA apparently has listened to Joe Paterno's complaints about Big Ten Conference football officiating.

The NCAA Football Rules Committee on Wednesday recommended an experimental rule allowing the using of instant replay in games played at Big Ten stadiums in 2004.

The Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet will rule on the recommendation at a date to be determined.

Paterno, the legendary Penn State coach, frequently had complained about the quality of the officiating in conference games the last couple of seasons, and the Big Ten proposed using instant replay to the committee.

"The committee appreciates the Big Ten's efforts in preparing the proposal," said committee chair Herb Deromedi, the athletic director at Central Michigan.

If approved, all televised games between conference schools will be played with instant replay, while non-conference opponents playing televised games in Big Ten stadiums will have the option to play with it.

The proposed system would use only replays provided by the Big Ten's television partners. A technical advisor assigned to each game by the conference would be the only person able to trigger the use of replay and make a decision on reviewed plays.

If approved, the committee will forward other rules recommendations for nationwide use in 2005, including having referees announce the uniform number of players committing a foul and immediately stopping play if the offensive team makes substitutions and rushes to the line of scrimmage to create a matchup mismatch.

LINK TO ARTICLE ON YAHOO.COM

 

The officiating does seem to be getting worse the last few years, but not just in football. I have seen some horrible calls and no-calls in basketball this season. The big difference is that basketball officials are now allowed to go to a replay in some cases to make sure the correct call is made, especially on end of game clock issues. Maybe a better solution would be to have a comittee review 2 or 3 random games of each official per season and evalute their pay for the following season based on their performance. The better an official is, the more money he would make.

I don't have any problem with instant replay if it was done like in the NFL where they are limited in the number of challenges. The impact on the game is minimal and I would rather see a team lose because a bad call was corrected than to see them win because of a horrible call. The teams are so close in talent now that one bad call can not only impact the result of the game but also how the team finishes in the final standings. There is a lot of difference in losing 2 games as opposed to 3 games, etc.

As far as cost is concerned, the bigger conferences are more than capable of covering the extra expense. The smaller conferences like the WAC and MAC might have a little more problem, but their games usually don't matter as much either in the final standings, although a few of their teams are starting to be a little more competitive with the BCS schools. Maybe the NCAA could allow each conference to decide whether or not to use it.

 

It is official.

Big Ten will use instant replay for football

By LARRY LAGE, AP Sports Writer
February 25, 2004
DETROIT (AP) -- Instant replays will be a part of Big Ten football games this season.

The NCAA championships and competition cabinet has approved the Big Ten's proposal to use instant replay -- on an experimental basis -- for conference games in 2004.

"It's about time instant replay found its way into college football," Michigan State coach John L. Smith said Wednesday. "I hope the Big Ten puts someone in the press box that isn't afraid to say what's right or what's wrong."

LINK TO FULL ARTICLE ON YAHOO.COM