Why Can't College Basketball Get it Right?

Monday, February 11^th, 2008 had to be a black eye for the sport of college basketball. Two horribly executed calls were on display, and instead of just being controversial, there sent two teams home with losses when they didn't deserve to be. And yet the NCAA surely won't fix the outcome.

On the night in question, the number eight ranked Georgetown Hoyas took on Villanova in a closely battled contest. So close, that the game came down to a last minute lay-up to tie the game at 53 all. A couple of possessions later, Villanova drove for the game winning score, when one of the Villanova guards turned the ball over with less than second remaining. Georgetown guard Jonathan Wallace picked the ball up and began to dribble down court when he was inadvertently and inconsequentially bumped with 0.1 seconds left on the clock and the referee did indeed call a foul. Wallace went to the free throw line, knocked down both shots, and the Hoyas escaped with a narrow, and undeserving, regulation victory.

It was an absolutely egregious call, and it was one that the referee should have let go. The bump on Wallace was in the backcourt, and it had no bearing on the outcome of the play. The only thing that could have made the bump meaningful was the referee turning it into a game-determining play, and that is exactly what he did.

Then the other game in question was the one between the Lady Volunteers of Tennessee and Scarlet Knights of Rutgers. With just a few seconds left in the game and Rutgers up by one point, Candice Parker of Tennessee grabbed an offensive rebound, put up a shot, which was rebounded by Tennessee player Nicky Anosike with 0.2 seconds left, and the game clock froze at that time mark. In the NBA, you cannot shoot do anything with the ball in your possession with less than 0.3 seconds on the game clock. However, in this game, the Tennessee player who grabbed the rebound with 0.2 seconds left made a motion, was then fouled, and then sent to the free throw line where she made both free throws and gave the Lady Volunteers a 1-point victory over the Scarlet Knights.

There is no way on earth that call should have been made either. If a player touches a ball with 0.2 seconds on the clock, the game should be over. However, the clock malfunction that occurred almost simultaneously with Anosike's rebound allowed the refs to make an atrocious call that ended up costing Rutgers the lead and ultimately the victory.

In the Georgetown game, although I'm not saying I would have done the same thing, but I can almost understand that call. The bump, when viewed in live motion, can be misconstrued as causing Wallace to dribble out of bounds, therefore foreseeable obligating the referee to make a foul call. However, at that point in the game with Wallace 80-feet away from the basket, that is just a call that you do not make, especially when it determines the outcome of the game. The refs have to swallow their whistles on that play or risk hurting the integrity of the game. They chose the latter.

The Tennessee-Rutgers outcome was much more ghastly in that it made no sense. Clearly, there was a clock malfunction and none of the referees noticed it nor were did they attempt to correct it.

And that is the problem with college basketball, and other sports, right now. If there is something that is correctable then you fix it. Replays clearly show that if you time the play as it should have been, the game would have been over before the foul was called. There is clear and indisputable evidence of that. But the NCAA won't fix it. They won't change the outcome and they won't replay the game. Heck, they might not even issue so much as an apology.

Not that the Villanova Wildcats or the Rutgers Scarlet Knights want an apology. All they want is a fair chance at winning games they train all summer and fall for. Unfortunately, they didn't get that fair chance on that fateful Monday night, and the one entity that can do anything about it- well, let's just say they're going to swallow their whistles on this foul play.