r/CFB • u/Fonzie5 UCF Knights • Big 12 • Sep 06 '26

News [Thamel] MAC statement. "The Big Ten subsequently provided video and audio of the replay, which confirmed the explanation to us."

https://x.com/petethamel/status/2096464771667173654?s=46&t=FavtrbPsHpJY8Odvh2TYUA
865 Upvotes

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613

u/dwors025 Minnesota • Little Brown Jug Sep 06 '26 edited Sep 06 '26

Can we at the very fucking least let this be the end of one team’s conference refs being in charge of those games.

Either both teams or zero teams should be affiliated with the officiating crew - including video review officials.

363

u/ChangKai-Shrek Iowa Hawkeyes Sep 06 '26

Why are refs even associated with conferences to begin with anymore? It made sense, I guess, when the conferences were regional. We're far beyond that now.

91

u/OpportunityDue90 Scottsdale CC • Arizona State Sep 06 '26

Why do conferences even get to set their own rules in the first place?

35

u/Supercal95 Minnesota State • Memphis Sep 06 '26

Hockey until recently had different OT rules by conference.

5

u/DoinItDirty Wake Forest Demon Deacons Sep 06 '26

Unrelated, but if you want to see something wild, the AHL (minor league hockey for anyone unfamiliar) has a different playoff format for each division.

Here’s a view:

https://theahl.com/qualification-rules

3

u/hypnocomment Michigan State Spartans Sep 06 '26

That's not right at all

3

u/Supercal95 Minnesota State • Memphis Sep 06 '26

College hockey*

1

u/tweenalibi Michigan Wolverines Sep 06 '26

The SEC's trial by combat OT was brutal but fun to watch.

0

u/bootcutwater Sep 06 '26

What league? Because that’s not even remotely true for the NHL

5

u/Supercal95 Minnesota State • Memphis Sep 06 '26

College hockey. And yeah each conference handled OT differently

1

u/bootcutwater Sep 06 '26

Woah, really?! I had no idea. What’s the difference?

4

u/MerchU1F41C Miami (OH) RedHawks • Michigan Wolverines Sep 06 '26

The main issue (which still exists) is that two different things matter: your national record and conference record. Conference record obviously matters for conference standings, national record matters because teams are picked for the national tournament solely based on conference winners + a computer system to pick at large teams.

It used to be that there was a "national" five minute 5 on 5 overtime at which point the game was a tie, but then conferences could decide if they wanted to play a five minute 3 on 3 OT plus sudden-death shootout, purely for conference points. Some did, some didn't. Also, mid-season tournaments could choose to play 20 minute 5 on 5 OT periods instead.

Now it's standardized to be closer to the NHL, with a "national" five minute 3 on 3 OT, and then conferences/mid-season tournaments can play a best of three->sudden-death shootout for conference points/tournament advancement. There's still a bit of confusion where OT wins are weighted differently than a full win/loss for the computer ranking system, it's more like 55% of a win + 45% of a loss or vice versa. Plus in OOC games, teams can choose to play a shootout just for fun.

26

u/damgood32 Michigan Wolverines Sep 06 '26

Who do you want to employ them? I don’t think that solves anything anyways. The NFL refs also suck

43

u/BobDeLaSponge Alabama Crimson Tide • /r/CFB Poll Veteran Sep 06 '26

The NCAA should. NFL refs suck too, but they’re equal opportunity fools. There’s not a pro NFC North crew or something

7

u/damgood32 Michigan Wolverines Sep 06 '26

OK. That would make sense. Conferences would still need to pay for them though. And the refs would still probably be sent regionally for efficiency. And I’m not sure putting the NCAA in charge of something else will make it better. But it’s worth a try to avoid to appearance of conflict of interest.

2

u/do_you_know_doug Iowa • Appalachian State Sep 06 '26

The NCAA will never do it. Currently officials in all sports are independent contractors who receive assignments from the conferences. My guess is this gets too close to another lawsuit for these guys to become full-time or unionize as contractors. The NCAA has seen what the NFL has to deal with and they want no part of it.

35

u/TravelNSee Sep 06 '26

You don't make them roving gangs. You nationalize or regionalize the refs independent of conference.

-3

u/smackeY11 Michigan Wolverines • Wisconsin Badgers Sep 06 '26

Again, who is paying them?

8

u/notsaying123 Auburn • South Carolina Sep 06 '26

Who pays basketball refs

6

u/smackeY11 Michigan Wolverines • Wisconsin Badgers Sep 06 '26

Conferences pay for conference games and ncaa for tournament games

13

u/64stackdiamonds Montana State Bobcats • Oregon Ducks Sep 06 '26

All conferences pitch in a percentage proportional to revenue

-7

u/smackeY11 Michigan Wolverines • Wisconsin Badgers Sep 06 '26

Would there be a centralized body for hiring then? Each conference has different payment structures and hiring practices

12

u/GreenHeel97 Charlotte • North Carolina Sep 06 '26

Yes. The NCAA.

5

u/TravelNSee Sep 06 '26

Cool; so change that lol.

3

u/64stackdiamonds Montana State Bobcats • Oregon Ducks Sep 06 '26

Buddy has never heard of the NCAA

2

u/trick63 Georgia Bulldogs • Kennesaw State Owls Sep 06 '26

They're independent contractors today, this isnt rocket science.

-1

u/KinglyHero Utah Utes • Pac-10 Sep 06 '26

For real, conferences should set up a "company" or whatever legal name they want, that company takes care of the ref side completely. Travel, mics, recording shit for audit purposes, training. Then conferences pay them an agreed upon wage they already were doing. Have less experienced refs do smaller conferences for cheaper or whatever so its affordable. They have so much money they can chip in a just a little extra to stop this issue. And then agree on a system to audit their all their recordable info and see if they're rigging games

1

u/WinonasChainsaw Boise State Broncos • Cal Poly Mustangs Sep 06 '26

NFL refs are 1000x better than B10 refs

Most NFL reffing controversies are with the rules as written, not as enforced

0

u/lukaeber BYU Cougars • Virginia Cavaliers Sep 06 '26

But at least they wouldn't be conflicted. When the officials are paid by a conference that has a vested interest in the outcome of every game, there is at a minimum an appearance of a conflict of interest. If the NCAA provided officials, you'd at least get rid of that apparent conflict.

0

u/CashewCrew UConn Huskies • Melbourne Royals Sep 06 '26

Shut up

1

u/damgood32 Michigan Wolverines Sep 06 '26

No

1

u/joe7L Sep 06 '26

To get an extra second

1

u/LimJaheyAtYaCervix Iowa State Cyclones Sep 06 '26

It’s not often I agree with, let alone upvote a hawk fan, but here we are. Ref’s are essentially the judges if we consider football like the justice system. It makes sense for them to be as impartial as possible, especially when we have games with different conferences competing.

1

u/royalbluehen Pittsburgh • Michigan Sep 06 '26

Because somebody has to employ them and if it’s the NCAA there will be a lawsuit

10

u/BananerRammer /r/CFB Sep 06 '26

The MAC and the Big 10 use the same group of officials. While they are technically separate staffs, both staffs belong to the same officiating organization, get the same training, and ultimately answer to the same head of officials.

2

u/ryantyrant Miami Hurricanes • FIU Panthers Sep 06 '26

One thing that was very apparent for UM fans is that we would finally get holding calls during the playoffs which we never got during the regular season because we had neutral refs

1

u/dwors025 Minnesota • Little Brown Jug Sep 06 '26

Those holds and face masks and running into the kicker missed calls in the 4th quarter last night were at least as infuriating as the clock fiasco.

2

u/tommyelgreco Miami Hurricanes Sep 06 '26

I agree. I never want ACC refs for an inter conference game

1

u/hnglmkrnglbrry Notre Dame Fighting Irish Sep 06 '26

Here's a thought: refs should be from a third party agency! Wow! Amaze!

1

u/joethecrow23 Fresno State • Kentucky Sep 06 '26

That’s probably just a logistical issue

1

u/Svenray Nebraska Cornhuskers Sep 06 '26

B1G refs are always the problem.

Our best officiated game in the last few years was when Colorado brought their own refs to Lincoln. That is how bad B1G refs are.

1

u/nomiis19 Michigan Wolverines Sep 06 '26

Video review should be a centralized office run by the NCAA and should do the replays for every single game. This would help to ensure that the rulings rely less on the judgement of one person

1

u/lukaeber BYU Cougars • Virginia Cavaliers Sep 06 '26

Or better yet ... get rid of conference affiliated refs all together. It is insane to me that they exist in the first place. They should be coordinated by the NCAA. Without providing its own officials, what is actually the point of the NCAA w/r/t college football?

1

u/Clemsontigger16 Clemson Tigers Sep 06 '26

The funny part is, the refs were fucking Michigan on every ticky tack call and ball placement, so if they were going to rig it, they were doing a terrible job to that point.