Full disclosure:
1) Kansas is always (with apologies to the late J. Dallas Shirley) my first choice to win in my pools because my Mother graduated from Kansas.
2) Duke is always (with apologies to the late J. Dallas Shirley) my second choice to win in my pools because one if my H.S. teammates started for Duke from 1972-75.
3) Maryland is always (with apologies to the late J. Dallas Shirley) my third choice to win in my pools because a basketball letterman from my H.S. (everybody who played basketball for our H.S. basketball coach from 1951 to 1971 consider themselves a member of a fraternity of sorts) started for Maryland from 1963-66.
But I thought that this was a tossup game and both teams would be worthy champions.
And it should be remembered that Lucas Oil Stadium has not been good to Wisconsin in championship games. The last time a Wisconsin team played a championship game in Lucas Oil Stadium it didn't score a point.
That said:
1) I was surprised that the out of bounds call with just under two minutes in the game was not overturned.
2) The uproar over not calling a FF1 against the Duke player in the first half. In my opinion it was a FF1 but as I read the rules replay could not have been used because not foul was called in the first place. And from the TV angle as the play happened it was difficult to see the contact and I don't know if either of the officials would have been able to see it.
3) I was surprised at the number of charges that were called blocks. These were calls that I would have expected H.S. officials with at least two years of experience would have been able to correctly call. I thought that there were about four calls that were called blocks that were charges and there were no excuses for them to be called anything but charges. And everybody knows my position about guarding and screening.
I am taking about no more than six plays out of the hundreds of yes/no decisions that the officials had to make. Therefore, I thought the game was well officiated, just a tad bit too much contact in the paint for my taste but I still think the officials did a good job.
MTD, Sr.