March madness is one of the greatest spectacles in all of sports, but what we just witnessed today was a tragedy that played out on national television. North Carolina was able to hold on to a gutsy 93-86 win against top-seeded Baylor in the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament, but not without a few questionable calls by the officials.
Brady Manek was thrown out of the game with a flagrant-two foul. Manek’s elbow swung up and caught a Baylor’s player on the head. It was a controversial whistle on twitter and I’ve seen those type of calls be deemed a flagrant-one before.
What happened next was even worse. The refs, knowing that Baylor was down big, let them be the more physical and aggressive team. Baylor got away with numerous loose ball fouls, holds and got almost every block/charge call in their favor. Many pundits who had no dog in the fight called out how bad the officiating was.
ESPN college basketball analyst,Jay Bilas hasn’t been a fan of how the game was officiated all season and now many completely understand why he has shared those sentiments. Manek was thrown out, but Sohan dragged Armando Bacot down to the ground several times and the refs didn’t step in to calm things down. Sohan was allowed to goon the game up and the rest of Baylor’s team followed his lead with the physicality, knowing that the refs were going to let a lot of things slide.
There was no consistency throughout the game, no consistency with how teams were officiated and just blatant missed calls. Late in the game off a missed shot the ball clearly went off a Baylor player, but the ref on the floor ruled it out on UNC. Fortunately, we have replay, but how can you miss that call?
The officials aren’t solely to blame. It’s important to note that UNC also almost tricked the game off – blowing a 25-point 2nd half lead. The Heels lacked poise and showed low basketball IQ at times, but the officials in this game shouldn’t be allowed to call another game the rest of the NCAA Tournament.
This has been a problem all season, but it came into the light in the national spotlight today. The NCAA better hope that this doesn’t continue, because it is going to swing an outcome of a game as we advance further into the tournament and the stakes get higher. Let the players decide the games!!!!