The only reasonable conclusion is that the Big 10 is corrupt

Submitted by Rdog on

The call disparity is just too large and it has happened enough times.  There is lots of evidence that recruits are paid to choose some universities, should we be surprised that referees are also paid off?

What is concerning is that the Big 10 seems complicit in these occurrences.   As bad as our calls were yesterday, the 2014 Penn State game had an even worse call-   OSU was credited with an interception that clearly bounced before OSU caught the ball.  This one call gave OSU that game.   Penn State complained but the Big 10 did nothing.

So now, what do we do?  Unless somehow things change The team we love is going to be repeatedly hosed on calls in most Big 10 games.   I don't think it is likely possible to trace the money being paid to the officials.  However, I think a statistical analysis will show that there is a consistent anamoly in OSU's favor.    Just this game shows it -  OSU had 6! yards of penalties versus an average for OSU of 52 yards of penalties a game.  I'm guessing that the refs didn't want the disparity to be so large but Michigan outplayed OSU by enough that the refs were forced to be even more one sided than usual.  My hope is that the disparity is so obvious that changes will have to be made.

I also hope that Harbaugh is angry enough to force the Big 10 to fix this.  The Big 10 leadership seems to be involved as this has been happening at least as long as Meyer has been at OSU without the Big 10 addressing it.   You don't give Michigan 2 away games at Michigan State in a row without an intent to hurt Michigan.   Similarly, the initial divisions within the Big 10 put Michigan at a disadvantage-  this was changed only because the Big 10 wanted to add two bad teams (Maryland and Rutgers) to make more money.

I'm not sure I want to watch football if I know my team is going to be at a disadvantage in every critical game.  I don't buy lottery tickets or gamble in Vegas because I know that the odds are not in my favor-  I'm saddened to realize that Michigan is also playing against the house in trying to win the Big 10.

 

 

 

 

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jmblue

November 27th, 2016 at 9:29 AM ^

The official turnover margin (3-1) is deceptive: besides their interception, they had a de facto turnover in the fake punt and also missed two FGs. It was a pretty sloppily-played game in general. It's easier to overcome sloppiness at home than on the road, though, and they did capitalize on our turnovers more than we did theirs (14 points to 7).

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UMProud

November 27th, 2016 at 8:08 AM ^

Champions win in spite of shitty officials. We lost, it sucks and we will see those bastards next year. Like the loss at MSU I'm sure this is a hurdle that we will overcome. If this shit was easy everyone would be doing it. Let's not make anymore threads blaming officials for our loss.

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Clarence Beeks

November 27th, 2016 at 8:12 AM ^

This is, of course, correct (had we just made a play on the play before "the spot" we wouldn't have been in a position for the official to make that call), BUT I do think this is one of those instances where enough is enough and something needs to be done about it. That's the sentiment that I heard yesterday from coach Harbaugh and it's about damn time. There is winning and losing with class, but only when it's fair.



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ST3

November 27th, 2016 at 10:53 AM ^

an OSU WR holds Jourdan Lewis, and then when that's not obvious enough to draw a penalty, he shoves him in the back. Lewis gives up and jogs out of bounds. How many times have you seen an east-west play like that NOT get called for a clip? Yeah, we should have tackled him behind the LOS, but the refs shouldn't have swallowed their flags.

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UMDWolve

November 27th, 2016 at 8:08 AM ^

I'm in the camp that believes Michigan has to do whatever it takes to get this addressed.

Threaten to leave the B1G, boycot a bowl and make the NCAA lose millions in revenue, whatever it takes.

OSU absolutely did not win that game yesterday, the outcome was flipped by the officials.

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michfan23

November 27th, 2016 at 8:28 AM ^

Except if you boycott the bowl you miss out on those bowl practices so helpful for development of young players. You also rob guys of that experience. You want to make a point, go smoke that team in the bowl game and then in the post game start talking about how you were motivated to show the world your teams talent. That's a lot more effective. No amount of jawing today is going to affect yesterday.



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UMForLife

November 27th, 2016 at 9:07 AM ^

Go ahead and practice any way. What are they going to do? Ban? Let them do that. Of course, I am pissed as hell. Unless someone makes a point that is so outrageous nothing will change. Someone said another thread how this has been going for years and nothing changes. I tend to agree. Nothing will change. We have to beat them by 20. It pisses me off to give up, but I am worn down. Duck B1G.

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The Barwis Effect

November 27th, 2016 at 8:11 AM ^

And this is why our fan base has the reputation it has. Ridiculous. The team had numerous opportunities to take care of business on its own and couldn't get it done. Don't rely on incompetent referees to bail you out. I swear, some of you are worse than Penn State fans. A bunch of entitled babies.



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chewieblue

November 27th, 2016 at 8:15 AM ^

Agreed, officiating sucked, but are we really going to puss out and blame them for us barfing this one away? Tackle Samuel the play before and they can't go for it on 4th. Turn it over twice instead of three times. Open up the playbook in the second half. Any one of a million things that were within our control could have flipped this game. WE pissed this away... not the refs.



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raleighwood

November 27th, 2016 at 8:18 AM ^

Clearly the officials had a bad game yesterday but this loss is on Michigan. The three turnovers amounted to a 21 point swing. The wildcat formation was all tease with no reward. The D allowed Barrett to gash them the whole second half. Michigan had a chance to put the game away (methodical drives, protect the ball...) and didn't do it. You can't leave the outcome in the hands of other people (refs).

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UMForLife

November 27th, 2016 at 9:11 AM ^

The numerous opportunities you speak of would have been taken away by officials even if we made the plays. You somehow assume that if we don't throw picks we would have won. I doubt it. If officials want to screw you over they can do that even if you play a perfect game. Not being a conspiracy theorist, but there is no evidence that suggest that we would have won even if we had a perfect game. That game was not officiated well.

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The Barwis Effect

November 27th, 2016 at 10:04 AM ^

Everyone knew going into the game that it was going to take a near perfect game to beat OSU in Columbus. Everyone. We didn't play anywhere close to playing a perfect game. If before that game you were told Michigan would run into a kicker, fumble on the OSU one yard line, throw a pick six as well as another virtual pick six, everyone knows Michigan was going to lose that game.

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Michigan4Harbaugh

November 27th, 2016 at 8:15 AM ^

Jim Delany and the Big Ten Conference is the modern day Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall. Crooked hoods. Harbaugh and Manuel need to end this bullshit.

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Smendels

November 27th, 2016 at 8:22 AM ^

Agree 100%. At issue is that this has been going on for decades. The only play we remember from 2006 was the Crable hit, and contrast it with the USC non call hit that year. The AD vote in the 70's to keep us out of the bowl game was egregious UF games to get into 2006 title game despite their rematch bs FSU (or the SEC rematch with Bama a few years later). Hopefully our AD will have Harbaugh's back. His calling out officials is necessary to show the team that he is behind them. Anyone who thinks that we cannot blame officials must not have watched that game. We had an injured QB who could not throw beyond 15 yards, brave it out as best he could. Despite that and a road atmosphere we dominated. 2 penalties for 6 yards, both on meaningless first downs does not compare to many penalties and extended drives. No holds by a struggling line all game... Just watch any highlight and you can see a hold. We had two sets of rules for coaching behavior and pass interference. This was clearly deliberate. Some Michigan brass think that we are above this and therefore should not complain. Those same people will continue to remain the losing side more often than not, and losing does not qualify us to be "leaders and best". Just hope that our AD does the right thing for our coaches and team this time. Send a publicly available tape of the many, many non-calls and missed calls to Big Ten and media (including our blogs). Highlight the errors. Challenge other schools to produce a more egregious game tape. This could get fun but most important, will force change on how refs operate and force the use of modern technology including sensors. Otherwise, we will see more of this and watch more fans stop watching. Michigan did not have Bo's back in 1990... http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1990-08-16/sports/9003080807_1_wayne…

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michfan23

November 27th, 2016 at 8:24 AM ^

The officiating was garbage, but the way to overcome it is to win by a margin the officials can't affect. Michigan had chances to win and they didn't do it. I too wish the spot was looked at for more than 5 seconds because Barrett was short, but then don't give up 12 yards by not tackling on 3rd down. Don't throw a pick six and a nearly pick six. I sincerely believe that Michigan was the better team yesterday and most observers who watched the game would feel that way, but in the end it wasn't enough. Extremely disappointing, disheartening, and shameful. However, the officials aren't the only ones who should be blamed.



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ruthmahner

November 27th, 2016 at 8:39 AM ^

I think the point is that being "the better team" should be enough.  Losing a game in which you were the better team shouldn't require you to say, well, we should have been the better team by a bigger margin.  Even if the worse team gets lucky on a couple of picks, if they are the worse team, they shouldn't win.

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1974

November 27th, 2016 at 10:48 AM ^

Sounds like someone failed at reading comprehension.

One team will always get at least one (if not two) more officiating breaks than the other team. But, several? A game between two evenly matched teams shouldn't have its outcome decided by the referees.

To put it another way -- and focusing on this particular game -- it's not reasonable to tell a team that "You'll just need to be that much better than the other team."

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michfan23

November 27th, 2016 at 8:58 AM ^

The better team doesn't always win and that's because in this case, the better team made too many mistakes. Objectively, if I were to say on Friday that Michigan was going to turn the ball over 3 times, would you have said they were going to win?
I would have loved to see the officiating be better, that's not an argument, it's just that I do think Michigan made enough mistakes that we, not them, can solely blame officiating. I think that's my big point, blame needs to be taken by officials and by the players and coaches.



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The Barwis Effect

November 27th, 2016 at 9:05 AM ^

Being "better" for a majority of the game does not guarantee anything. Yes, Michigan was great through the first 2.5 quarters, but they were not the better team over final 15 minutes -- the time when most close football games are actually decided. Hell, the Detroit Lions, of all teams, have shown this year that the only time you really need to be the better team is during the final drive.

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YoOoBoMoLloRoHo

November 27th, 2016 at 8:27 AM ^

more about entertainment than "good, healthy competition". The money and network exposure has largely turned NCAA football & basketball into a controlled event like the NFL and NBA. Just the TV timeouts and extended half times already alter the competitive dynamics with a revised set of practices, so if they're willing to change those rules for TV than why not officiate for the benefit of TV? Officiating can keep games close like the UM-MSU in the 2nd half and give an edge to the preferred team (likely anybody playing a Harbaugh squad). Just enough calls or no calls can completely change outcomes but the administrators are more concerned about TV ratings than competition. Deflategate kept everyone talking about the NFL an entire offseason. Now "the spot" will keep this game in the media spotlight long after the competitive implications are resolved.

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esanch

November 27th, 2016 at 8:29 AM ^

Jesus people, go for a walk. How can you even think it productive to start another officiating/ conspiracy thread

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Happyshooter

November 27th, 2016 at 8:29 AM ^

Calls don't get made that one sided by accident. The refs were in the tank for OSU.

Jim told the truth, and the Big10 will fine him for pointing out the truth, thus proving he is right. If he was wrong they would show how he was wrong and shame him for it.

There are two possible reasons for the unfairness: 1, they Hate Harbaugh; or 2, there were bribes involved.

A member of the media needs to follow up in a few months, we have to hope there have been no-work fatcat contracts for their fathers/brother-in-laws. If there are, then we know how much we have to bribe next season, and how to do it.

Otherwise it is pure bias, and I am not sure how to overcome that.

I do know allowing the outcome of The Game to be dicatated by ref bias repeatedly will destroy the series, and in time will kill college football. A smart NCAA would get to the bottom of this and fix it, but that isn't going to happen.

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PsuedoRaptor

November 27th, 2016 at 8:31 AM ^

I'm so tired of hearing about a no call PI and a spot that the internet seems to have multiple pictures of showing he crosses. The refs didn't fumble on their 1 yard line. The refs didnt surrender a ten point lead in the biggest game of the year. The refs didnt cause three turnovers. Blaming a conspiracy and blaming the refs is ignorant as Michigan has been in these situations before on the more favorable side of officiating. Michigan outplayed Ohio State for 3 1/2 quarters, but a game is not 50 minutes it's 60. Hats off to the rivalry.

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Michansas Wolverback

November 27th, 2016 at 8:54 AM ^

Exactly. I don't understand this line of thinking that you can't complain about awful, game-changing calls just because you played an imperfect game against #2 on the road. Of course you played an imperfect game against #2 on the road!

I honestly can forgive the spot because it was so close the home team will almost always get that given what was at stake. But the PI on Perry is the reason Samuel's TD could end the game. It was so obvious.



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The Barwis Effect

November 27th, 2016 at 9:20 AM ^

Sorry, but that's not how sports work. Part of home field advantage--true home field advantage, such as in places like Columbus in football or Bloomington or Durham in basketball--is that the home team gets a large majority of the calls. It's more than it just being difficult to call audibles or having a bunch of yahoos waving their arms behind the basket while you shoot free throws. The refs are human and they, just like the players, get affected by the crowds.



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Real and Spectacular

November 27th, 2016 at 8:38 AM ^

There's no conspiracy theory but the home team will get the benefit of the doubt nearly every time, especially in a hostile environment like the hell hole in Columbus. I hate to say I called it but when I was talking about the game to a friend I said I thought we were better but I was worried OSU would get every single call. Lo and behold they did. I knew we were in trouble when we get a PI on the first possession when the crowd bellowed after slight contact, and then Darboh got tackled and nothing. But despite all that, we once again blew chances to put that game away.

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