College Basketball Fans Want Officiating Crew Fired After 'Awful' Call
12/18/2024 09:27 PM
The NFL isn't the only league with a constant bashing of the officials online. College basketball has it, too.
Wednesday night, UConn is hosting Xavier in a Big East Conference opener. The Huskies and the Musketeers were in an extremely tight contest late in regulation, when the referee show decided to break out.
There were two downright "awful" calls in the final minute of the game.
First, we had Xavier's Dailyn Swain called for an off-ball foul, sending UConn to the free throw line, with the game tied, 76-76, and only 12 seconds remaining.
Xavier's Dailyn Swain called for a foul here to send UConn to the Free Throw line with 12 seconds left
— Ryan Cassidy (@ryancassidycbb) December 19, 2024
What do you guys think? pic.twitter.com/RDMK7ubGTf
The refs weren't done, though.
Moments later, we had an off-ball foul called on UConn's Jayden Ross, who made no contact with the player he was guarding.
And here's the foul called on UConn's Jayden Ross to even up the score
— Ryan Cassidy (@ryancassidycbb) December 19, 2024
What do you all think? Which was worse? pic.twitter.com/mEeJIjEW7E
Which one of those was worse?
Both were terrible. College basketball referees can either be extremely too whistle happy or ignoring of blatant fouls in big moments. There doesn't seem to be much in between.
A lot of it seems to be that the crowd plays a bigger role in college hoops than other sports. Winning on the road in college basketball is as hard as it gets - and the referees surely have a role in that.
Still, college basketball fans want Wednesday night's crew to be disciplined or outright fired.
"There are so many make up calls in this game I can't keep track of which is making up for what," one fan wrote.
"Refs down the stretch have been a show," one fan wrote, adding: "The refs are interjecting in the games way more than they should."
"When the Big East is sending their officiating crews, they're not sending their best," one fan added.
'Embarrassing showing down the stretch for the refs. Make-up call was even worse," another fan wrote.
Longtime college hoops reporter Jon Rothstein summed things up on X, formerly known as Twitter.
"An ABOMINABLE call. Another ABOMINABLE call. PUT THE WHISTLE AWAY!" he wrote.
An ABOMINABLE call.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) December 19, 2024
Another ABOMINABLE call.
PUT THE WHISTLE AWAY!
At least the two bad calls kind of canceled each other out, but this is not the kind of officiating you want to see in a premier game on Fox Sports 1.
