[M&M Guy]

Since the NCAA is nothing more than an association of member schools, everything the NCAA does is based on what the member schools want it to do. I was under the impression the NCAA either does not, or cannot, control what happens during regular season athletic contests, other than specific issues like eligibility and recruiting rules. All the other issues are handled at the school and conference level. The NCAA does however control their "championships", or the NCAA post-season. If the schools want the NCAA to take over the officiating scheduling, they would vote to have it done.

The other issue that isn't mentioned much is the fact that schools, conferences, and the NCAA have to be careful how much control they try to exert over officials. If they put too many conditions on them, officials might then be considered "employees" by federal labor and tax standards, and then would be subjected to a whole other set of rules and regulations, such as federal and state tax withholding, FICA, unemployment insurance, overtime (no, Mark, not that overtime...) rules, and so on. And, since the NCAA will have more expenses based on officials being employees, the overall amount paid to officials will be less than if they treated them as independent contractors.