Something needs to be done about college basketball officiating

I thought Curbelo was vertical on the Houstan drive. Besides he’s 6’8” he should’ve dunked on him

We played our asses off

stormed back

and the refs took it away.

pathetic 

You must just watch Big Ten. The other conferences are so much better. Watch the tournament, it will be so much better. Sample size over last several year tells you BT is one, if not the worst conference on officiating. It’s sad and embarrassing.

Worldwide!?!, you must not have seen the replay on the Curbelo/Houstan play. Clear as day Curbelo was not vertical.

I don't know what can be done. There are a finite number of good officials in the country. 

I'm proud of this Michigan basketball team. They are fighting through officiating, and coaching adversity, and making games not only competitive, but winnable. 

These young men have character! 

Curbelo started vertical then brought his arms down at an angle into houstan not allowing to get a good shot up.  

Not sure why they let Jones get run over with no call. It's hard to officiate but being in bonus with 10 minutes left then some of the calls they don't make.  

Your assumption is that there is a pool of referees just waiting for better pay/gig before they referee basketball that the College sports can pull from if they just 'invested more money' into the profession?  Or that maybe they could get NBA refs who NO ONE ever complains about??? Like NO ONE ever complains about NBA reffing. Not even ONCE! Where in this magical realm do these refs exist?

I hear about local High School reffing (and witnessed it this year) in a lack of quality. The problem is the people willing to ref are reffing. There are not better refs just waiting in the wings for better pay. If you want to ref and are capable, you likely are already doing that now.

Are people unable to ref the current sport of basketball with any consistency. Yes... it's just a matter of fact.  I don't see any solution without some form of technology.

I completely agree. College Basketball is tougher to play IMO for players than the NBA is with worse players and terrible officiating is one of the reasons.

Part of the problem is the politics involved in becoming one of these officials. There are undoubtedly much better officials out there than what the big ten has but they do not kiss the right person’s ass. Officials compensation is not the issue it is the gate keeping in order to make it to a high level.

Or......we could PLAY SOME FUCKING DEFENSE!!!!!!!

The missed push off was the big one.  Frazier gets away with the push then hits the dagger.  Tough break that really should not happen.  Hunter on the over the back was a whatever type call.  They could have let it go, but I think it probably was a foul.  I do agree if you are calling that over the back not sure how you don't call the hacking on Houstan.

Would have liked to see the match up zone a little earlier, but water under the bridge. 

Regardless this team has to figure it out this week.  Do not want to go into Columbus needing a win to get a bid.  Take care of State and Iowa and get ready for tournament time!

It's impossible under the current rules. There's no way that everything can be called, so that leaves a somewhat arbitrary standard for what is a good play and what is a violation.  Officials often decide the best course is to try and call the game fairly evenly in terms of number of fouls / violations, regardless of the actual game being played.  Other themes include giving the advantage to the home team and giving the advantage to the team that is behind.

Somehow, in spite of everything, the best team usually wins.  Illinois was just incredibly hot shooting today and deserved to win.  Michigan played a good game also.

No question the officiating sucks, but Michigan lost because they once again shot the ball from 3 poorly while their opponent looked like 3-pointers were free-throws.

Illinois hit 10-17 3-pointers.  Michigan hit 5-15.  That is the ballgame right there.

This team's ceiling is capped by their lack of good 3-point shooting.  They are just never going to be more than an average team.

5-15 from isn't bad considering we were fouled on 2 additional 3 point shots and made all 6 free throws. So we were really more like 7-15 = 47%.

The whining about officiating is incessant. There aren't all good calls, but this team plays matador defense and can't shoot. Fix those problems and we win more. 

Two things can be true, but fix the one you control

I thought the game last night between Gonzaga and St. Mary’s was reffed quite well. Drew Timme is notoriously hard to officiate because of his physical style of play. The difference between the game last night and this mess is stark.

Beyond the end of the game crap not being called, it's frustrating as shit to watch Kofi constantly drop his shoulder into Hunter and nothing is called... but yesterday the refs called that foul on Edey a couple of times... 

Watching Kofi push people in the back, no call... Moussa trying to deny him the ball by "pushing" him out of the key, foul... Hunter gets mugged throughout game and nothing is called...

Curbello started vertical but brought his hands down.  This one was obviously a horrible call.  Especially at home.  You're gonna get this call 99% of the time but for the ref to get it wrong at home?

More bad calls that were critical:

• Jones got absolutely flattened on a reach in
• Frankie called for offensive when the guys heel was on the arch line
• Jones called for offensive foul on Plummer when plummer was moving, didn't beat him to a spot, Plummer floppped, just terrible.

I just left the game. Maybe the worst officiated Bball game I can remember. All game long. I saw 2 of our players get elbowed and go down in front of refs and no call. Illinois guards always push off with off hand, not once called. Plumber travelled 2 times, no calls. Houston got bodied at end of game, no call.  And all game long they called ticky tack incidental contact foils on us. Complete BS!

This post is straight from 1982, well if the internet had existed in 1982. BT refs have been bad for a very long time.

Baseball is getting a robotic strike zone. Someone design a robotic ref. That’s the only way it’ll change. 

Also, making a thread to complain about officiating is never a good look. Every team in every sport gets some bad calls. 

The officiating today was typical of the Big Ten:

-mostly let things go in the 1st half. Whether you like this or not, here we are.

-begin calling every imaginable ticky tack foul on the perimeter immediately after halftime. Both teams are well into the bonus as we approach the 10 minute mark.

-meanwhile, muggings under the basket are ignored. The non-call with Houstan was egregious and horrible. 

In the end, Illinois is better and we need to play better on defense. However, Big Ten refs are clearly impacting the games with their incompetence and the conference should be ashamed of this. 

Mentioned this in the other thread. Grandeson came from out of bounds to make a layup in the second half. Easy call watching it live. Just missed. 

Ugh. Whenever we lose, it's inevitable that people complain about the officiating. It's tiring. If you think Illinois fans can't point to calls that weren't made against Michigan you're kidding yourself. That's the way it works. 

I do agree, though, that the game simply seems too fast, and the players too strong, to make good officiating possible. It seems like it's football out there, and I don't know what the solution is. 

Officiating is bad in all sports, not just basketball.

This is stupid. Illinois was called for more fouls than we were (20-19), the two teams shot the same number of free throws, and Michigan made substantially more than the Illini did.

I know, I know, the definition of "bias" means it felt like Michigan wasn't getting the calls it should have, but try a little bit to fight that instinct to whine. Give it a rest. 

I need rewatch the 2 elbows. Those were egregious missed called I thought at the time.  In real time looked like UFC elbows, not an ounce of flop. Can someone tell were those good no calls?

Not ONLY are B1G refs pretty terrible, we seem to be the only B1G team that NEVER gets a home whistle. Officiating at Crisler seems to favor the road team, and then Michigan gets the road whistle away from A2.

The end of the game had those examples, yes, but the first half did too.

At least 8 point swing in the first half on calls. Kofi knocks down BJJ, who has position for an OREB, turns into a 5 on 4 and a transition 3. Plummer does the "lean in" for the 3 free throws, initiating all contact. Plummer also pushed off to get an open three (should have been an Off Foul). That was 8 points right there.

The officiating had some bad calls go Michigan's way too but overall an 8-point loss with about net +10-12 points off calls for Illinois is tough to swallow. (Also bad defense.)

 These semi-pro college BB teams, will their games be called the same as in the pros?  Will it become more about individual superstar players getting(or not getting)the calls?  With the transfer portal, one and done, and NIL, will players become way, way more important than a team?

For people saying they don't know what can be done, the league can grade all the officials and use some of that Billion in tv revenue they are about to get and pay more for the best officials!

Purdue fans should be posting the same thing on their fan page Edey couldn't do anything in their game against state without so-called fouling someone. Even the announcers were saying how ridiculous it was. Totally changed the game .State always gets home cooking though. Michigan never does for some reason in basketball or football .

The women's team had a lot of the same issues today in the 2Q. Refs pretty much took over once Michigan tied it again after weathering a flurry of Iowa 3s. The dude ref was in the pocket of Iowa's HC, just making up turnovers multiple times on Michigan's offense. My favorite was a traveling call when Naz moved her non-pivot foot. Her pivot never moved at all. Ref standing in front of Iowa's coach and she yells "travel," so he calls it. 

(granted, the wheels fell off later in this game but that moment was "pivotal," pun intended)

The conferences hire officials.  The place to start is for the B1G to hire full time officials for b-ball and football and have them train and be evaluated year round.  The NCAA is always complained about, but the conferences and member institutions run the NCAA.  

In the first half Kofi gave a full forearm to Johns’ back when he had position for an offensive board. Johns goes straight to the ground, leading to a Plummer 3.

Then there is Jones getting ran over at half court, hit at the rim, Houstan getting mauled, and Frazier with a Jordan-Russell push off. 

Also, does 3 in the key ever get enforced? Kofi would post a foot inside the free throw line and stay there. Also, plowing his elbow while shuffling his feet with the ball. 

I hate Illinois. They are a very talented team, and luckily they’ll flame out in the first weekend because Underwood is garbage 

What can be done? Better training? Better pay? Would that help the problem? Maybe negligible. Irregardless, as long as there are humans officiating and making split second decisions, there will always be problems with officiating. I think basketball may just be among the worst because of the speed of the game. we know and see the problem, but are there any viable solutions?

was watching at a bar with a friend. end of first half there were 13 total fouls (7-6). it was a good game to watch tho we were losing.

i told her, "watch, this will completely flip in the 2H because big ten refs are inconsistent and generally suck". sure enough; 26 fouls called in the second half. i would guess that nearly half were ticky tack bullshit. 50 FTs were shot for the game. refs are ruining the flow and thus the enjoyment of games.

Not sure who the Big Ten gets as refs, because other college basketball games I watch in other conferences seem to be fairly officiated.  Like others have said, I believe politics plays a big role in who gets assigned the games.

That was a brutal stretch and within a few minutes of that they also missed a terrible call where Illinois got a baseline layup when the guy was literally out of bounds when he caught the pass - never having reestablished himself inbounds.  

The Houstan call was marginal - it did look like Curbelo went vertical, but they ALWAYS reward drawing contact attacking the rim.  Well, unless it is Devante Jones, who can't buy a call attacking the rim.  

Honestly, I thought the refs had a handful of bad calls and you mentioned most.  But even though I'm known to bash the refs, that wasn't the reason we lost.  UNLESS.....they actually want to call a moving screen when Kofi acts as a fullback and just shoves people out of the way in the lane with his butt.

It's all been mentioned.  I hate it more than anyone else.  They ruin games.  I'll just add that the ole MAKE UP CALL is another huge issue.  We know it exists.  Except when we sit down and think about, what are officials doing rather than calling the game how they see it as best as they can?  Which isn't very good as it is.  Well, they're looking to insert a make up call....instead of calling what they see.  Then some schmo gets a 4th foul called on some bullshit charge.  Or a ridiculous over the back occurs.  So yea, the way the games are officiated, inside and out, is atrocious.  All this money in the sport yet I'm supposed to sit back and accept it because it's been that way for 30 years.  Or I'm supposed to accept that my team has to just play three times as good to overcome not only the other team but the way the zebras call the game.  Because it's too fast and the players too athletic.  Get 2 more on the floor.  Something.  Or track their bank accounts; some nights I've not other rationale other than they're on the take.

I'm fed up.  And nobody that matters gives a shit, so, yay me.

Only consistency is inconsistency with officiating crews.  
 

Burke’s block was clean

JT was short

Hutchinson did cause a fumble that should’ve been a TD vs MSU

Tell me again officials don’t impact games 

I don't disagree with you, but I also just do not see that happening. The NCAA is an institution made of popsicle sticks at this point, and the B1G officiating has been awful for decades. 

The officiating is very bad, but I don't think anyone that can cares to fix it.

Here in MD, we lost the last couple minutes, so I didn't see the Houstan call. Definitely saw Johns get pushed, granderson step out of bounds, and Plummer fake the ref into the charge on Jones. But I did think Dickinson got away with a moving screen on his pummeling of curbello. In fact, after watching him attempt some more screens after that, he really pushes the envelope. That might not be called as much in Big 10, but if they do make the tournament, I think he's going to have to tighten that up. The tournament refs won't let him slide in there at the last split second.

Since Keady and Knight and now onto Izzo its the same shit. How do you know? Tournament results. Michigan makes it farther than all these other Big Ten teams (when it makes it) year in and year out. I can think of one play (Treys Block) in all of tournament play. Think about that for a second. One play we have a problem with outside of Big Ten play. Neutral sites in Bball and football there is never any of this. Its a real problem. Someday someone is going to expose something. 

You're not entirely wrong, but I'm sure a lot of this frustration is stemming from the fact that Michigan lost yesterday. 

Michigan lost yesterday because of its defense, or rather a lack thereof. Illinois carved them up and took what they wanted, like a school yard bully taking your lunch money and you just handing it over and not doing anything about it. Then he shoves your face down into the dirt just for good measure. 

I'm sure the natural response is "That's not the point here. The refs still suck." Well, maybe, but I'm willing to bet this thread doesn't even exist if Michigan comes back and wins yesterday. 

Trey's block was clean, the ref was not.

Agree on Big Ten officiating.  It's set a very low bar for itself and the people who run the league seem to be too complacent or incompetent to do anything about it.  I was hoping when Delaney left, that something would be done.  Nope.  Just a continuation of the institutionalized incompetence.  

Michigan hoops gets an inordinate % of the bad calls too it seems.  Jones in particular seems to get a ton of horrible calls and non-calls against him.  Yeah, he has also committed some bad fouls.  But it's almost like the refs are out to punish him for some reason.  And Michigan almost never seems to get a charge called on the other team anymore.  It's always blocking or no call.  I hope when Juwan returns he can temper his response to the bad calls.  Because I think the refs will not be cutting him as much slack the rest of the way.