It's Time for Harbaugh & Manuel to Fix B1G Officiating. Here's How

Submitted by Communist Football on

Comrades,

We need to do something about B1G officiating to make sure these problems are minimized in the future. It can be done. (NOTE: I've updated this thread to account for comments here and on the regular board.)

As a historical reminder, it was the Big Ten that introduced instant replay to college football. In the 2002 season, Joe Paterno was furious that blown calls on fumbles had cost Penn State several games. As a result, the Big Ten introduced replay in the 2004 season. 

The same thing can happen again, if Jim Harbaugh and Warde Manuel make it a priority. We can improve the replay process and get the officiating subjectivity out of important parts of the game. Here are some areas that are relatively easy to improve. Perhaps you all have others?

1. Pass interference. In the CFL, coaches are allowed to challenge interference calls and non-calls. The Big Ten could adopt this rule, and also make any pass attempt on third or fourth down, or over 20 yards, reviewable if the replay booth wants to review the call or non-call. The replay booth wouldn't have to review the call each time, like with a fumble, but rather if the call was clearly worth reviewing.

2. Spots. The problem with the fourth down call was that the replay was at a bad angle, and therefore didn't produce what officials would consider indisputable video evidence (though it is geometrically obvious that he was short). There has to be a way to get better spots in situations where the linesmen can't see what's happening. Perhaps cameras can be put on poles at the first down marker and at ground level to look over and under the play on each side of the field—or perhaps from cameras with telephoto lenses higher up in the stadium. You could have a camera on one of those pulley systems directly above the ball's yardage line at all times, kind of like the goal line cameras in the NHL.

3a. Higher quality refs (pay them). As we've discussed on the board in the past, the B1G refs are part-time and don't appear to conform to a rigorous quality standard. The conference could easily afford to have full-time refs who are high end. NFL referees made $173,000 on average in 2015; the Big Ten could easily serve as a farm team for near-NFL quality referees by paying them.

If a full-fledged B1G officiating crew cost $400k a year, times 7 conference games a week times 9 conference games a year = $25.6 million annually. The B1G's latest television contract pays the conference $440 million a year, and that doesn't include bowl game revenues and other income sources.

If the conference feels that's too much to spend, the conference could instead have two full-time officiating crews that rotate through the conference's most important games each week. That would cost $8.4 million a year ($400k x 10 regular season weeks x 2 games/week + championship game).

3b. Higher quality refs (grade them). Furthermore, the conference could have a weekly, public, grading of the officiating teams in each game, giving awards to the officiating crew that did the best, and caling out the ones that made mistakes. It would be after the fact game-wise, but it would give fans confidence that the B1G takes officiating seriously.

3c. Higher quality refs (eliminate conflicts of interest). As noted in this thread by Magnus, the official who called the personal foul on Harbaugh was in Ohio's officiating hall of fame. It appears that the B1G used to have a rule that refs from Ohio and Michigan couldn't ref The Game (h/t NYCBlue). While I'm sure that there are officials who can call the game fairly even if they are from the same state as one of the teams, there have been too many instances of poor officiating associated with this problem.

Another way to address this solution, suggested by researchers at Miami University (NNTM) and Florida State, is to nationalize FBS officiating. This is apparently done in most other NCAA sports. The researchers found that there is significant bias toward the home team in college football officiating, among other things, and suggested that officiating be run by the NCAA nationally rather than by conferences. Such a change would limit the likelihood of a local official or conference-associated official biasing the outcome of a game.

4. Replay booths at a neutral site. Instead of the booths being at the site of the game, have them in Chicago. This is what the NHL does with all replays being reviewed in Toronto. This removes the pressure on replay officials to play to the home crowd.

The Big Ten has an opportunity to be a leader in improving the integrity of competition in its flagship sport. It should take advantage of it. Warde Manuel, the ball's in your court.

Football
Officiating
referees
Officials

Comments

Woodstock Wolverine

November 26th, 2016 at 6:46 PM ^

If I was a part time ref and someone offered me 10,000 dollars to call the game in one teams favour....... that's the problem. Good ole home cooking. I think grading the refs and holding them accountable some way could help.

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charblue.

November 26th, 2016 at 9:45 PM ^

is reviewed by the league and schools are allowed to send in plays for review. Game assignments are based on weekly evaluation and stock of a particular crew. Right now, the league is suffering from the recent retirement of some of its most experienced referees and crew officials.

Reading some of Harbaugh's comments about today's game and the fact that a sideline official was conerned about his sideline conduct and then flagged him for unsportsmanlike conduct, a penalty on top of an offside call raises questions about the calling official's knowledge of college football rules as it relates to sideline conduct. Not saying Harbaugh didn't deserve the call for his antics,  but the offcial citing a basketball standard for football coaching conduct and staying within the coaching box, would hardly support the same call in football. The standard is different because a coach's sideline response to any call hardly carries the same influence as a basketball coach in an enclosed arena. And the remedy in basketball for such conduct is regularly understood and enforced.

The problem today was lack of consistency in the application of any standard for certain calls, such as pass interence and defensive holding other than apparent crowd response intimidation. Early in the game on a third down play when Grant Perry was targeted on a throw, his defender hooked him and then he was put on the ground even as the ball whizzed by him without a flag. Yet crowd reaction on a play involving less contact on a Buckeye third down throw drew a flag and first down. And this happened again late on a throw that was uncatchable to Samuel but crowd reaction again led to a penalty, and Michigan was forced to defend a fresh set of downs with 4 plus minutes left in the fourth quarter.

We don't want officials to decide the game, but we also don't want the home crowd to decide who should be flagged and who shouldn't, and that combined with an inconsistent standard for flagged and unflagged calls, is what the Michigan beef is really about. If these officials can't stand up to the pressure of calling these games, then they need to be replaced by those who can.

The fact is the crew that worked today's game is an extremely veteran crew, has worked Michigan games earlier in the year, and done other major game and bowl assignments in the past.

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Communist Football

November 26th, 2016 at 11:26 PM ^

Yes, there were a number of situations where there was a late flag against Michigan after the crowd reacted to a certain play. That should be measured and corrected. Also, yes, there is a private review of officials' performance but there needs to be a public one in order for there to be true accountability for poor performance (and rewards for good performance).



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J.

November 28th, 2016 at 4:51 AM ^

Honestly, I think that's borderline.  (Then again, who knows what holding is anymore?)  Holding typically isn't called when the defensive player is being pushed -- that's just blocking.  And while the offensive player does have his left arm wrapped around the Michigan player briefly, he seemed to disengage pretty quickly.  I'd be inclined to put that into the "good block" category.

Of course, it was a "good block" at the 14 1/2 yard line, and Barrett ran into the guy, but...

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myislanduniverse

November 26th, 2016 at 8:35 PM ^

I was actually speculating this to my friends today. Do you have some links or article names? I mean, the results are really pronounced with a huge, active crowd like this, but the psychology makes sense that it would be easier for a ref to make a call that 110,000 fans are going to cheer him on for, than make one that is going to get him booed and jeered by a medium sized city worth of people. I can see how, at the very least, you would make 120% sure you were right on all calls that would upset the home crowd, but maybe your threshold for calls going for them is a but lower, since you will be cheered. And damn, I bet it feels good to make a call and have 100,000 people cheer. Found a good one: www.researchgate.net/publication/222697584_The_Influence_of_Crowd_Noise…

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Communist Football

November 27th, 2016 at 8:09 AM ^

Here's a good summary of some 2015 research done specifically on college football homerism in officiating by a group of scholars at Miami University (NNTM) and Florida State: 

"Based on a complex analysis of penalty yards assessed over the course of eight seasons, the study by professors at Miami University of Ohio and Florida State University suggests, for instance, that ACC and Big 12 refs tend to penalize home teams less during games between conference rivals. Favored Big Ten teams are penalized fewer yards when playing nonconference teams, the study says...

"These and other examples of bias indicate 'considerable variance' in officiating across conferences, the study concludes, even as the monetary stakes mushroom with college football’s new four-team playoff. The researchers urge the NCAA to consider creating a national officiating body rather than have refs hired, fired, and evaluated by conferences."

A book a few years ago, Scorecasting, looked at the phenomenon across all sports.

 

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Starko

November 26th, 2016 at 7:21 PM ^

More calls should be made in real time by remote officials who can see the game on camera.. We can see everything on camera; why do we rely on guys standing on the field? Line of scrimmage cam is a good start, but I think the influence of the home crowd is a real problem that could be solved.

Joined: 10/08/2008

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Mitch Cumstein

November 26th, 2016 at 7:28 PM ^

Serious question. I realize had we won I wouldn't be asking the question, but I feel like I just wasted 3-4 hours of my life and continuously do so on sports. There are more commercials than plays, the officials frequently determine the outcome of the game, and the announcers/commentators put on a charade as if it's all great and above board. Not to mention the drivel that ESPN feeds. There was a pregame fluff piece glorifying JTs dui and spinning it into an Inspirational story about his leadership abilities. Why do we bother? I have better things to do, as I'm sure most of you do.

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noahtahl

November 26th, 2016 at 9:24 PM ^

So happy to hear how great ur life is but most of us are miserable with our new prez, losing again to a school that begins with da, global warming, among other reasons. 

This should have been more of a comfort than 3000 calories I just ate and drank.

Fuck da osu.

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noahtahl

November 26th, 2016 at 9:25 PM ^

So happy to hear how great ur life is but most of us are miserable with our new prez, losing again to a school that begins with da, global warming, among other reasons. 

This should have been more of a comfort than 3000 calories I just ate and drank.

Fuck da osu.

Joined: 11/12/2008

MGoPoints: 145

MichiganMAN47

November 27th, 2016 at 11:33 PM ^

I was at the shoe and had a perfect angle on this play. That was a very catchable ball. I think this is the worst call I have ever seen in my life by far. Can it get any more obvious than this? A ten year old could tell you that was pass interference (by two different players). I would take a 10 year old over a self professed OSU fan officiating a game any day.

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westwardwolverine

November 26th, 2016 at 10:01 PM ^

I said it in another thread, will say it here:

No idea if the spot was correct or not. Its certainly very close either way.

The real issues were A. the inconsistency of the PI calls (OSU gets two calls to extend drives, Michigan has the same thing happen and does not get the calls) and B. The fact that its simply not believable that OSU had 2 penalties for 6 yards. 

There was a clear bias that helped OSU win this game. Yes, Michigan should have still won (had Wilton thrown only one terrible pick or Cole doesn't produce a pointless facemask, its over), but it doesn't change the fact that the officials gave Ohio State a leg up throughout the game. 

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You Only Live Twice

November 26th, 2016 at 10:20 PM ^

Replace line judges with camera review wherever possible.  That doesn't eliminate bias, though.  The camera reviews upheld their worst BS, including the ridiculous spot.

Rotate officials out of the game frequently to reduce the fear of making the right calls.  It's a drop in the bucket compared to how much money they're hauling in.

Look I don't know if this team was really ready to face Alabama...we would have been more ready than Barrett and company though.... damn it, we were absolutely unfairly robbed of the chance to try. 

Stockholm syndrome never changes anything.  Good on Harbaugh calling out corruption.

 

 

 

 

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Sten Carlson

November 26th, 2016 at 10:28 PM ^

Unfortunately, CFB is going the way of NCAA Basketball for me -- nearly unwatchable due entirely to lopsided officiating. Michigan's loss to Louisville in the NCAA Final was it for me. The sporting world watched one of the single greatest solo defensive plays ever called a foul, a would be 5th foul on Louisville's star given to the wrong player, and a Michigan team overcome all the ticky tack crap to be right there at the end. I've not watched an NCAA BB game with anything resembling serious interest since -- investing emotional energy into something that others are willing to actively and wontonly steal and pervert is the height of stupidity. Today I watched a Michigan team completely dominate OSU, in all facets of the game. Yes, Michigan's turnovers allowed OSU to hang around in a game that should have been out of reach. But, despite these gifts, it was the officiating that turned the turned the tide and either wrongly gave the ball back to OSU, or robbed the brilliant Michigan defense of their rightfully earned stops. All the missed holds, bad PI's (calls or noncalls) aside, the refs had the chance to make it all right in the end. Just like the Final versus Louisville -- in the end, the refs had a chance to reward Michigan for overcoming everything that was stacked against them. Maybe some of you remember that Trey Burke was totally mugged on the offensive side of the court, and no call was made. He then summoned superhuman speed and agility to make one of the greatest, cleanest blocks in history (one that the Louisville player later admitted was clean) on to have the ref seemingly make the call before the taking action had played out. This was their chance to make up for the no call on the other side of the floor, for the ticky tack touch fouls that sent Burke to the bench in the first half (something I called before the game started). It wouldn't even have to be a "make up call" where he swallowed his whistle -- just the RIGHT CALL when it mattered most. So to, this afternoon, the officiating crew (replay guys included) had a chance to reward Michigan for overcoming a talented OSU team, a hostile environment, and three turnovers simply by making the RIGHT CALL when it mattered the most. Sadly, these men couldn't bring themselves to do the right thing when the Michigan defense, once again, made the play when it mattered most. Whether it's OSU, the crowd, Urban Meyer, or Harbaugh, I don't know. But, displays of inequity like we witnessed today -- and like we witnessed versus Louisville, make me want to stop caring about something that I love deeply. Michigan football is the only sport I follow, and it's been my passion for 40 years and biased, incompetent fools are tarnished its greatness because they won't just be the impartial judges they're tasked with being. I never loved Michigan basketball the way I love Michigan football. So, turning my back on the game wasn't too difficult. But this! This feels like a broken heart! Not because we lost, but because we were cheated out of a winning position -- cheated by refs who stole the game for a team who has had theirs for years now. It's not like we got screwed by the refs versus Purdue, this is OSU! They got beat, and yet they won. They got caught cheating, and yet they got BETTER! Why can't this ever be fair and equitable? I'm not asking for domination, or even repentance, just let the players play and chips fall where they may! This has become intolerable!

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Z_Wolverista

November 26th, 2016 at 10:58 PM ^

this was like 2013 MBB Championship Game.

I remember being shocked at the lack of a sustained effort to demand reform of officiating then, in spite of good ideas.

Absolutely, should be professionalized, and refs held accountable.

Reeks of corruption, too.

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Sten Carlson

November 26th, 2016 at 11:24 PM ^

I swore I'd never watch MBB again after the Illinois v UNC final in which Roy Williams was crowned king and his team was impervious to foul calls while, like 2013, the best opposition player was neutralized (fouled out) with 5 touch fouls. I swore that was it! But I had to support my Wolverines in 2013 ... only to get a painful reminder of why I swore I'd never watch MBB again! Sure does smack of corruption! Harbaugh talks about good clean competition, and means it -- seems like to everyone else that naive. I just don't see, barring corruption, how refs could get things so obviously wrong, especially with replay. Maybe it's the money in the game as money leads to cheating/corruption. I dunno! But it's horrible to watch!

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WNY in Savannah

November 27th, 2016 at 12:26 AM ^

Well said, and I'm right there with you.  When that game ended, I immediately thought, "What's the point of continuing to watch these games?"  I have actually thought this before and I can't seem to quit because I have also spent more than 40 years loving Michigan football.  My earliest sports memory is of crying when Michigan lost to OSU in the early 70s.  And here I am again.

But if we can't count on the integrity of the game, then what's the point?  And we can't count on the integrity of the game.  There is too much money involved.  The NCAA already does nothing to schools that cheat if they are money makers.  So in one sense, the game is already rigged.  But I guarantee you that the Big Ten wanted OSU to win this game today.  That was their best chance to get two teams in the playoff and make more money.  Then you watch that officiating.  This conference did not add Rutgers because they thought it would be good for college athletics.  It was about money.  There is too much money involved to be able to trust that everything is aboveboard.

I probably still love Michigan too much to quit, but I do wonder why I bother.  I have given up caring about all other sports.  All of my sports emotion is poured into Michigan football and it inevitably leads to pain and agony.  I really should give it up and spend my time on something less painful.  But I don't know if I can.

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