March Madness Very Bad Calls

Ok, let's get one thing straight before I begin. I am not one to blame the referees for every loss.  I think that, if you lose fair and square, you should own up to it.  However, the referees at this year's NCAA March Madness were so bad that they deserve to be blamed for a few things.  In the past few years, I have noticed a trend of more and more officials making obvious mistakes. There were a few in last year's March Madness. But nothing compared to the endless list of blown calls this season.  Let's have a look at some of the most debated calls, in no particular order, of this years March Madness.

1. SMU vs. UCLA Goaltending

Goaltending itself has an interesting story. Before 6 foot 10 George Mikan came along, everyone thought that reaching up and interfering with a shot was impossible.  Mikan changed that, as he could leap up and stop shots with ease. The definition of goaltending is a violation which involves interfering with a ball while it is on a downwards angle, is above the rim, and has a chance of going into the basket.  In what world does this shot have any chance of going into the basket?



Yanick Moriera reached up and grabbed that clearly missed shot. Period. SMU should have won that game. I will admit, this is a bit of a close call for someone watching in real speed. However, the play was not reviewed, as goaltending is not reviewable.  The ref furthest from the basket made the call in real time, and that was the call that stood.

2.  Providence vs. Dayton Technical

With less than four minutes to go, and Providence trailing Dayton by 8, Providence Head Coach Ed Cooley decided that then was the time for a little motivational speech.  Cooley, in an attempt to fire up his team, slammed an empty chair to the ground. In doing this, Cooley received a pivotal technical foul. Nothing about this was directed towards the official, and the chair did not strike anyone.  Regardless of how harmless this was, the whistle was blown, and so was the call.  This mistake swayed the momentum of the game, and Dayton was able to pull out a victory.

3. Dayton vs. Boise State No-Call

Before Dayton could be on the winning end of the last bad call against Providence, they had to be on the winning end of another blown call in the First Four. With only seconds to go, Boise State was down by one point.  They inbounded near their own basket, and Derrick Marks set himself for a game winning three.  He pump faked, his defender bit, and Marks put up a shot through the contact.  He was hoping for a foul, a foul that never came.  The ball missed by a mile, and Dayton advanced into the tournament. Even though Marks initiated contact, this play is called a foul pretty much every time it happens. Countless times I have seen an offensive player rise up through the outstretched arms of his defender, only to flail up a shot and go to the line.  In this case, a foul would have put a career 79 percent free throw shooter on the line for three with a few seconds left in one point game.  Odds are, Boise State goes to the tourney if the refs make the consistent call. But they didn't.

4. Duke vs. Wisconsin Out of Bounds

During the National Championship, Justise Winslow certainly made a difference for Duke.  However, the referees evidently didn't notice Winslow stepping out of bounds under the basket:



Or touching the ball as it went out of bounds:



Both plays resulted in Duke gaining three points. The final score of the game was 68-63, so the six points that resulted from these two missed calls could have made a huge difference.

5. U.C. Irvine vs. Louisville Reach

At the end of the game between U.C. Irvine and Louisville, both teams were in the game.  U.C. Irvine was down, however, and needed to take a last second shot.  The ball was inbounded to Alex Young, but he was bumped by Terry Rozier and time expired as both teams scrambled for possession. If you ask me, and many other people, Rozier clearly hit Young way too hard for it not to be a foul.  Louisville had two fouls to give, but this one would have given the Anteaters another chance to get a possible game winning shot up. However, Louisville got the benefit of the doubt and U.C. Irvine was sent packing.

Hopefully, in the future, exciting games like these will not be stained with what can only be described as screw ups by the officials.