NCAA Men's Tournament Officials (2018)
 

Previous Assignments:
NCAA Men’s Tournament Officials (2017)
NCAA Men’s Tournament Officials (2016)
NCAA Men’s Tournament Officials (2015)
NCAA Men’s Tournament Officials (2014)
NCAA Men’s Tournament Officials (2013)

FIRST FOUR -- DAYTON, OH

Tuesday, 3/13/2018
(16a) LUI-Brooklyn vs. (16b) Radford -- Michael Reed, Bert Smith, Justin Porterfield
(11a) St Bonaventure vs. (11b) UCLA -- Doug Sirmons, Deldre Carr, Brooks Wells

Wednesday, 3/14/2018
(16a) NC Central vs. (16b) Texas Southern -- Tim Nestor, Chuck Jones, Rob Kueneman
(11a) Arizona State vs. (11b) Syracuse -- Marques Pettigrew, Eric Curry, Mike Eades

ROUND OF 64

Thursday, 3/15/2018
PITTSBURGH
(10) Oklahoma vs. (7) Rhode Island -- Doug Sirmons, Tony Chiazza, Bill Covington Jr
(15) Iona vs. (2) Duke -- Chris Rastatter, Courtney Green, Tim Comer
(16) Radford vs. (1) Villanova -- Robert Riley, Mike Roberts, Paul Faia
(9) Alabama vs. (8) Virginia Tech -- Pat Adams, Nate Farrell, Kevin Brill

DALLAS
(14) Wright State vs. (3) Tennessee -- Bo Boroski, Don Daily, Steve McJunkins
(11) Loyola vs. (6) Miami -- John Gaffney, Deldre Carr, Bill Ek
(14) Steven F. Austin vs. (3) Texas Tech -- Tony Padilla, Gene Steratore, DG Nelson
(11) St. Bonaventure vs. (6) Florida -- Larry Scirotto, Mike Reed, Mark Schnur

BOISE
(13) Greensboro vs. (4) Gonzaga -- Ray Natili, Tommy Nunez Jr, Antinio Petty
(12) South Dakota State vs. (5) Ohio State -- Michael Stephens, Lee Cassell, Randy Heimerman
(12) Davidson vs. (5) Kentucky -- Terry Oglesby, Joe Lindsay, Sean Hull
(13) Buffalo vs. (4) Arizona -- Gerry Pollard, Greg Nixon, Vladimir Voyard-Tadal

WICHITA
(16) Pennsylvania vs. (1) Kansas -- Keith Kimble, Donnie Eppley, Brett Smith
(9) NC State vs. (8) Seton Hall -- Terry Wymer, David Hall, Clarence Armstrong
(11) San Diego State vs. (6) Houston -- Kelly Pfeifer, Anthony Jordan, Larry Spaulding
(14) Montana vs. (3) Michigan -- Deron White, Ron Groover, Bert Smith

Friday, 3/16/2018
CHARLOTTE
(10) Providence vs. (7) Texas A&M -- Michael Irving, Kipp Kissinger, Wally Rutecki
(15) Lipscomb vs. (2) North Carolina -- Lamont Simpson, Tony Henderson, Bill McCarthy
(9) Kansas State vs. (8) Creighton -- Pat Driscoll, Rod Dickson, Eric Curry
(16) UMBC vs. (1) Virginia -- Tim Nestor, Tony Greene, Todd Austin

DETROIT
(15) CS Fullerton vs. (2) Purdue -- Jeff Anderson, Karl Hess, Brandon Cruz
(10) Butler vs. (7) Arkansas -- Roger Ayers, Jeb Hartness, Matt Potter
(14) Bucknell vs. (3) Michigan State -- Verne Harris, DJ Carstensen, Nate Harris
(11) Syracuse vs. (6) TCU -- Brian O'Connell, AJ Desai, Michael Greenstein

SAN DIEGO
(13) Marshall vs. (4) Wichita State -- John Higgins, Robert Staffen, Marques Pettigrew
(12) Murray State vs. (5) West Virginia -- James Breeding, Earl Walton, Chris Beaver
(13) Charleston vs. (4) Auburn -- Doug Shows, Dwayne Gladden, Kelly Self
(12) New Mexico State vs. (5) Clemson -- Paul Szelc, Evan Burroughs, Randy McCall

NASHVILLE
(15) Georgia State vs. (2) Cincinnati -- Jeff Clark, Ed Corbett, Raymond Styons
(10) Texas vs. (7) Nevada -- Lamar Simpson, Tim Clougherty, Jerry Heater
(16) Texas Southern vs. (1) Xavier -- Brent Hampton, Byron Jarrett, Mike Eades
(9) Florida State vs. (8) Missouri -- Jamie Luckie, Darron George, Pat Evans

ROUND OF 32

Saturday, 3/17/2018
PITTSBURGH
(7) Rhode Island vs. (2) Duke -- Chris Rastatter, Tony Chiazza, Bill Covington Jr
(9) Alabama vs. (1) Villanova -- Robert Riley, Pat Adams, Doug Sirmons

DALLAS
(11) Loyola vs. (3) Tennessee -- Michael Reed, Larry Scirotto, Don Daily
(6) Florida vs. (3) Texas Tech -- Tony Padilla, Bo Boroski, John Gaffney

BOISE
(5) Ohio State vs. (4) Gonzaga -- Gerry Pollard, Lee Cassell, Terry Oglesby
(13) Buffalo vs. (5) Kentucky -- Joe Lindsay, Mike Stevens, Ray Natili

WICHITA
(8) Seton Hall vs. (1) Kansas -- Anthony Jordan, Ron Groover, Keith Kimble
(6) Houston vs. (3) Michigan -- Terry Wymer, Bert Smith, David Hall

Sunday, 3/18/2018
CHARLOTTE
(2) North Carolina vs. (7) Texas A&M -- Pat Driscoll, Michael Irving, Eric Curry
(9) Kansas State vs. (16) UMBC -- Kip Kissinger, Lamont Simpson, Tony Henderson

DETROIT
(10) Butler vs. (2) Purdue -- DJ Carstensen, Verne Harris, Brian O'Connell
(11) Syracuse vs. (3) Michigan State -- Roger Ayers, Jeff Anderson, Michael Greenstein

SAN DIEGO
(5) Clemson vs. (4) Auburn -- John Higgins, James Breeding, Earl Walton
(13) Marshall vs. (5) West Virginia -- Paul Szelc, Randy McCall, Doug Shows

NASHVILLE
(7) Nevada vs. (2) Cincinnati -- Jamie Luckie, Jeff Clark, Brent Hampton
(9) Florida State vs. (1) Xavier -- Mike Eades, Darron George, Tim Clougherty

SWEET SIXTEEN

Thursday, 3/22/2018
ATLANTA
(11) Loyola vs. (7) Nevada -- Michael Irving, Larry Scirotto, Kipp Kissinger
(9) Kansas State vs. (5) Kentucky -- Chris Rastatter, Earl Walton, Jamie Luckie

LOS ANGELES
(7) Texas A&M vs. (3) Michigan -- Jeff Clark, DJ Carstensen, Don Daily
(9) Florida State vs. (4) Gonzaga -- Verne Harris, Brent Hampton, Bo Boroski

Friday, 3/23/2018
OMAHA
(5) Clemson vs. (1) Kansas -- Tony Padilla, Lamont Simpson, Bill Covington Jr
(11) Syracuse vs. (2) Duke -- Mike Eades, Pat Adams, Lee Cassell

BOSTON
(5) West Virginia vs. (1) Villanova -- Ron Groover, Mike Roberts, Joe Lindsay
(3) Texas Tech vs. (2) Purdue -- Pat Driscoll, Ray Natali, Anthony Jordan

ELITE EIGHT

Saturday, 3/24/2018
ATLANTA
(11) Loyola vs. (7) Kansas State -- Terry Wymer, Gerry Pollard, Bert Smith

LOS ANGELES
(9) Florida State vs. (3) Michigan -- Randy McCall, Keith Kimble, John Gaffney

Sunday, 3/25/2018
OMAHA
(2) Duke vs. (1) Kansas -- Doug Sirmons, Roger Ayers, Jeff Anderson

BOSTON
(3) Texas Tech vs. (1) Villanova -- Michael Stephens, Terry Oglesby, Mike Reed

FINAL FOUR -- SAN ANTONIO, TX

Saturday, 3/31/2018
(11) Loyola vs. (3) Michigan -- Terry Oglesby, Mike Roberts, Roger Ayers, alternate: Keith Kimble
(1) Kansas vs. (1) Villanova -- Michael Stephens, Kipp Kissinger, Randy McCall, alternate: Keith Kimble

Monday, 4/2/2018
(3) Michigan vs. (1) Villanova -- Doug Sirmons, Jeff Anderson, Terry Wymer, alternate: Keith Kimble

Get used to seeing Justin in the coming years, his stock is on the rise.

Keith Kimble seems to be in that same boat.

Likewise with Brooks Wells. I saw a lot more of his work in the Big Ten this season and was very impressed, especially with his handling some of the tougher coaches in the conference.

I couldn't agree more. It's great to see someone moving up who is so deserving.

Who is the 3rd official on Miami v. Loyola, John Gaffney, Deldre Carr and ?

John Gaffney is listed twice.

Bill Ek!

Tennessee / Wright St.

We need a third, unless they worked two man.

Nah, "Don Daily" is BillyMac's alias when he's working at the big time level :D

How long have you known this ??? I looked for a shiny belt and an IAABO but didnt see either....

Went to high school in Connecticut (I don't think in Billy's neck of it, though), so I've been hearing rumors for about 15 years now.

What Big Names missing from Tourney? We know Teddy V. Joe DeRosa missing.

I don't see Tom Eades, Les Jones, Olandis Poole and Rick Crawford. I'm sure there are others but I think those four should have at least gotten a sniff ...

NCAA Men's Tournament Officials (2018)
 

Video Request: 3/22/18, KY vs. KS St., 20:00 1st Half, CBS.

The R in a Sweet Sixteen game appears to make a crappy toss. His partners don’t call it back.

Just kidding, JRut...you don’t actually have to clip this. I was just gratified to see that I’m not the only one who throws up a lemon once in a while.

I hope his partners give him a good ribbing at halftime. [emoji16]

Edit: Given how hard that game was, something tells me that the jump ball quickly became a distant afterthought.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Need six for tomorrow....
 

WOW....there are only 6 guys needed for Duke / Kansas and Nova / TT...

If you look who hasn't worked this weekend yet but worked last weekend there are some really good guys sitting home...

I see Higgins, Stephens, Sirmons, Ayres, Anderson, O'Connell

I expect we will see Ayers, Stephens, Higgins, and Sirmons today.

There are 7 guys who worked the regional level in both 2016 and 2017 but have yet to work this years regional with only the Kansas-Duke game remaining:

Doug Sirmons
Gene Steretore
John Higgins
LaMar Simpson
Roger Ayers
Ted Valentine
Tim Clougherty

LaMar is retired or injured I think. Valentine is out. I have it on decent authority that Higgins is out. So that leaves some 3 man combination of Ayers, Sirmons, Steretore, and Clougherty to work Kansas-Duke, barring a surprise.

I'm guessing Clougherty will miss out and Sirmons, Ayers, and Steretore will work in about an hour.

Disagree with AremRed.

There's been a common theme among every regional semi/final crew thus far, and your guess would break the trend.

Steratore iut
 

A guy who works football for Gene was told by Gene he is finished....

Andersen, Sirmons, Ayers for Duke/Kansas game.

2/3 ain't bad. Forgot they needed a black guy and Anderson is the best between him, Covington, and Walton.

All three are pretty good friends......
 

I've never thought any of their accomplishments were race based. Just three good referees and people who just happen to be black...

I am going to say this bluntly. Considering how many Black players are on the floor during games at this level, there should be no questioning of who Black is in those situations. It is still extremely rare to see 3 Black officials ever work a D1 game outside of HBCU conferences. And when they do it is so rare that it is highlighted. When three white guys are working a D1 game where most of the players are Black, do we say, "They got there because of their race"? Nope.

I remember when Kentucky played Indiana in Bloomington some years ago and I was an FB friend of one of the officials. I sent him a text in shock and asked, "They put three Black guys on that game?" He even said to me, "I know right." It amazes me that Blacks can dominate this game in all areas but for some reason when the officials get to a certain level we have to somehow qualify why they are there.

Peace

Should we say they needed 2 White officials, so that's why Doug and Roger are there?

That's the equivalent of what you just said.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

Guys, let's not act like the racial composition of the crew isn't a consideration. Based on the "trend" Matt S. referenced earlier it absolutely is. It isn't wrong of me to point that out.

I couldn't care less if they had crews where all 3 officials were black, white, Asian, Latino, whatever. I just find it interesting that every single crew, save one, during regional play had 2 white officials and one black official.

I believe it is a factor. It is at the high school level. But what cracks me up is that somehow the Black officials have to justify their position and never the white officials, who again are not representative of the players that are mostly on the floor.

Peace

John Higgins has worked the past 5 Final Fours. That streak will likely end this year.

Here's the 10 I predict:

Michael Stephens
Mike Eades
Tony Padilla
Jeff Anderson
Doug Sirmons
Verne Harris
Ron Groover
Terry Oglesby
Jeff Clark
Roger Ayers

On the bubble:
Terry Wymer
Keith Kimble
Mike Roberts
Bo Boroski

Well, I am going throw this out there early....

Final Four Guesses:

Mike Eades (Semi)
Terry Ogelsby (Semi)
Jeff Anderson (Championship)
Doug Sirmons (Championship)
Keith Kimble (Semi)
Mike Stephens (Semi)
Verne Harris (Semi)
Randy McCall (Championship)
Bert Smith (stand by)
Lamont Simpson (Semi)

But also in the mix, Ayers, Clougherty, Gaffney

I’m not a professional mathematician. But I dabble in numbers and I can say with a fair amount of confidence that the odds of 11 of 12 crews having this consistently precise racial distribution absolutely did not happen by coincidence.

What this means in the grand scheme of things? I find myself not caring that much.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Pollyanna ...
 

I would hope that it isn't on either a college, or high school, level, but from posts on this Forum, and from comments from my Connecticut officiating colleagues, both high school officials, and college officials, that may not be the case.

Looking through my Pollyanna, rose colored glasses, I would hope that assignments would only be based on the competency of the officials, not their race, or gender.

I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. (Martin Luther King, Jr.)

We're not there yet, but we can hope.

https://tse1.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.W...=0&w=384&h=173

Race plays a factor in forming crews for many assigners (Rich?). Not saying it’s right or wrong, but to pretend it doesn’t happen is nonsense.

If a game has one white and one black coach, many assigners will make sure the crew makeup is 2:1. The idea being that it fends off one of the coaches playing the race card if he feels wronged by something. Of course, hopefully all officials are still competent.

As long as racism still exists (it does) and charges of racism get brought up over the results of basketball games (it happens), it’s unlikely that race will ever not be a factor when forming crews for assigners that care about it.

Shows, Gladden, and Self didn't not advance to the second weekend after putting the wrong FT shooter on the line at the end of the Auburn/Charleston game. John Higgins was the alternate and went down with them.

Final Four officials
 

Check out @marchmadness’s Tweet: https://twitter.com/marchmadness/sta...700100608?s=09

Jeff Anderson
Roger Ayers
Keith Kimble
Kipp Kissinger
Randy McCall
Terry Oglesby
Mike Roberts
Doug Sirmons
Michael Stephens
Terry Wymer

Not Much Love for the West Coast guys..Only Randy McCall. Kimble is up and coming, no surprise he is getting a shot. Surprised that Mike Eades and Chris Rastatter did not get the call.

Wouldn’t be surprised if Randy is the alternate. I’m also surprised no Mike Eades. And Rastatter should have gotten it after his excellent performance in the Villanova-Kansas regional final in 2016.

NCAA Men's Tournament Officials (2018)
 

Interesting article from SB Nation. JD goes on the record to tell us what we basically already knew:

“‘If an official errs on a rule, misses a game-deciding play, or his miss-call ratio is too high, they are subject to not advancing in the NCAA tournament,’ Collins told ESPN Sunday night.”

(By this logic, it seems JD agreed with Ayers’ block call. [emoji3])

They’re picking on Higgins in the article, but this is not new. The Sirmons absence last year was a direct reflection of this policy. These guys are all damn good; I’m not sure how else you pick tournament advancements when the officials’ bodies of work are otherwise all the same, i.e. excellent.

Full article at: https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nca...DDy?li=BBnb7Kz


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You think an official should get a Final Four assignment in 2018 based on one game in 2016?

No lol he should have gotten it in 2016.

You’re probably jesting but I think in JD’s mind it probably wasn’t a game deciding play because it went in favor of the team down 2 and only tied the game, and it wasn’t heavily covered in the media as the reason Duke lost. Duke fans might think so, but they’re not in the tournament anymore.

Making a call on a close to 50/50 block/charge play in favor of the team down (this Ayers call for example) is a LOT easier than calling it in favor of the winning team (Tony Greene in Duke-Syracuse a couple years ago). I’m pretty sure Ayers knew that.

True. In that case, that guy who called the charge in the CO state semifinal game needs to go to Ayers’ camp!



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ah that made me laugh

2 years ago I said I had an officiating crush on Kipp Kissinger, now he is in the Final Four. I think he is the most technically sound official I've seen working college basketball.

I guess "how you run" isn't that big of a factor for getting into the Final Four. :D

Hank Nichols high-stepped, as I recall. Here are highlights from his resumé:

Philadelphia Big 5 Hall of Fame, Villanova Athletic HoF, Philadelphia Athletic HoF, Greater Buffalo Sports HoF, Pennsylvania Sports HoF.

10 NCAA Final Fours, 6 NCAA Men's Finals, 3 NIT Finals, 2 Olympic Games and 1 European Championship.

First official to work both the NIT and NCAA Finals in the same year.

First National Coordinator of NCAA Officials.

Not bad for a guy who ran funny.

I still the VHS tape, no not a DVD of the game I officiated at camp that Hank Nichols critiqued at Don Shea's camp in 92.

Old As Dirt ...
 

Love VHS. What's a DVD? Isn't it a men's underwear brand?

Nationwide Camp ( Don Shea / Henry Nichols)
 

And there was no camp brochure on line. I cut out the advertisement from a page in Referee magazine, filled it out and mailed it in with my check for $425....

According to the CPI calculator, $425 in 1992 = $753 in 2018.

That VHS tape must have been plated in gold.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[QUOTE=crosscountry55;1020039]According to the CPI calculator, $425 in 1992 = $753 in 2018.

That VHS tape must have been plated in gold.


Ouch....stayed in dorms, no AC, had to bring a fan. Anybody remember camps like that in the early 90's....

Pepperidge Farm Remembers ...
 

Been there, done that.

Last nights assignments means Terry Wymer, Jeff Anderson, and Doug Sirmons on the title game.

First title game for Jeff Anderson and Doug Sirmons. Doug is working his 3rd FF after missing 2016, Jeff his second and second in a row. Terry Wymer is working his second title game in three years. He had Villanova's buzzer-beating win in 2016 but missed the interim year.

Jeff Anderson: had Villanova 3 times this season, Michigan 0 times
Doug Sirmons: had Villanova 2 times this season, Michigan 0 times
Terry Wymer: had Villanova 0 times this season, Michigan 7 times

I guess Rick Boyages doesn't care much about overexposure for his referees, he assigned Wymer to 5 regular season games involving Michigan. And that wasn't even his most popular team. Wymer worked Indiana 8 times this year and all were reg season games.

Regarding the second game last night I was pretty disappointed Keith Kimble was left on the bench, especially over Randy McCall who struggled a bit.

Major college is not high school. Individuals at that level are under more scrutiny and held to a level of accountability that none of us are held to. They can work a with a team several times when that is one of their major conferences and no one says a word. Mainly because if a coach makes a claim, the conference supervisor and addresses the situation directly and quickly.

Peace

Plus as a former D1coach, I'm sure Ricks Boyage has a better feel for that type of situation.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

I have sent all Black officials to games where they might have been the only ones in the building. I've sent 3 women to work a boys HS game. Then I had 3 men work the girls game that followed.

I simply don't care. Nobody I work for (administrators of the 24 schools) or that coaches in my conference would ever say anything. They have more important things to worry about.

My criteria is this -- can you get plays right and can you deal with people?

I'm never going to get rid of people cause they are too white, too black, female, run funny, too short, too tall, too heavy, too thin.....provided they get their plays right. And I don't make specific assignments on those criteria, either.

I've only assigned 5 seasons now, though, maybe 1700 games. I might change my mind, but probably won't.

I'm going to take a guess that Wisconsin is a little different demographically than Illinois. Heck even certain parts of Indiana are very diverse.

Peace

Depends on the area.

Having experienced this kind of race-based assigning once (an assigner in Illinois back when we did 2 dates a year there insisted we have a black wing to work with the "black team") I think this nonsense is overblown. That guy caused more trouble than anyone on the crew, mainly cause he was a terrible official.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro