(A great shot done by CBSSports.com)
by Chad Braun (@Chad_Braun)
NCAAB Columnist for The Grandstand Gazette
A split second.
It can be the difference in a game. It can change the face of a season for a team. A loss for a top five cripples their chances for a No.1 seed, while for a bubble team, it could be the difference between in and out for the tournament.
That brings us to the McKale Center in Tucson, Arizona for a January 3rd matchup between No. 3 Arizona and a 10-3 Colorado squad in the running for a tournament berth. Colorado busts out to an early double digit advantage, but the battle tested Wildcats hang tough and are able to tie the game with 9.2 seconds remaining. Colorado gets one last shot and Sabatino Chen throws up a prayer at the buzzer, and it goes in. Colorado pulls the upset.
But wait, the referees need to go check the monitors as the play was very close. After further review the referees wave off the basket. Arizona would go on to win the game in overtime.
Looking back at it, Chen seemed to have released the ball just in time. (Here is the play for you to make the call). Now in my eyes Chen released the ball before the red light went off, therefore the basket should count. However, the referees saw it another way and decided to wave off the basket.
I am a huge fan of upsets in college basketball and I am sure a majority of people deep down love rooting for the underdog. It is a shame when the underdog does everything right and somehow still can’t escape with a win. This is exactly how Colorado must have felt. They came out of the gate shooting lights out and even though they gave the lead away, they still put themselves in a position to win and converted. Unfortunately they made it close enough to leave it up to the officials. In the end the officials sided with the juggernaut Wildcats.
Now before you are quick to jump on the officials for making a call you don’t agree with let us not forget the Syracuse vs. Toledo mishap in college football last year. How do you not get the call right on a missed kick? There have been far too many games being decided by referees and instant replay. Instant replay was installed so referees would be able to make sure they made the correct calls. That hasn’t stopped them, though, from still getting calls wrong.
So how do we fix the problem?
“Get rid of instant replay,” says Tad Boyle, coach of the Colorado men’s basketball team. I would say that is an idea but I do believe that replay is still very beneficial to college basketball. One idea is we could have an instant replay crew that strictly focuses on reviewing every play and makes the call, rather than leave it up to officials who already have to worry about making calls on the court. Also, we could add more camera angles so no matter where the play took place the reviewer could get a clear picture as to what happened and what the correct call should be. These are fairly simple adjustments that could help every sport avoid such egregious errors that could change the face of a team’s season.
For Arizona, they have been given a second life and are still undefeated for the time being. For Colorado, the search for a signature victory to put on their resume will continue.
Many may say, well Arizona would still be in the top 10 and Colorado is still projected to make the tournament. Well for Arizona, the difference between a No. 1 seed and a No. 2 seed is huge because of geographical implications, as well as whom they would be stacked up against as the tournament progressed. For Colorado, the difference between the No. 8 seed and No. 11 seed is huge and one signature win like the one that should have occurred on January 3rd could be the difference for Colorado.
This also affects teams that aren’t Arizona or Colorado. For example what about No. 5 Indiana? They should be in the top four now and should be a projected No.1 seed. That call could change Indiana’s fate as well as any other highly ranked teams shooting for a No. 1 seed.
In the end all that has been proven is that instant replay is not where we need it to be in sports yet. There are still many steps that need to be taken to enhance the process and decision making. For now we will have to stick with what we have and hope that it doesn’t change the outcome of any more spectacular games.
