memphis/tenn refs
 

Who are these refs? Anyone know their names?

I don't know but it's one heck of a game!

Mike Thibodeaux
Doug Shows
Mark Whitehead

they let some rough play go which is ok in my book. Man that coach yells a lot. Also I think both teams set the record for longest shorts. I wear baggy shorts but geez they were lower than most teams.

I thought the game was well officiated, but I do have a question.

I was curious as to the allowance of the Memphis player to get in JP Prince's face with 11 seconds left while preparing to shoot the free throws. Prince stepped away from him, but I, with orange glasses on obviously, thought a "T" could have been in order.

I was at the IU/Northwestern game which was really entertaining as league doormat NU gave 14th ranked IU all the could handle with a first half Princeton offense clinic. We went a local bar down the street to watch the last 10 minutes of Memphis/ Tenn game. More than one patron noticed the striking contrast in how the game was called compared to the NU game. Evenly called, just a different philosophy, They let 'em bang. A great night of college basketball.

Big 10 officials are notorious for allowing rough play but the amount of physical play under both baskets during the UM/UT game was beyond belief. I think they did a good job of "letting them play" and the traveling call on Dozier/Dorsey's "same team tie up" took guts because a UT player (Chism maybe?) was in the play and he could have easily been called for a push.

On the game winning shot, Smith was fouled twice and still made a tough turnaround for the win. I think Dorsey should have been tossed several times for his behavior and his attempt to get in Prince's face on the FT line was bush league.

Many of the same officials that work the Big Ten, work in for the supervisor that assigned this game. There really is nothing unique about being a Big 10 Official as compared to many other conferences.

Peace

I noticed after the first free throw that the center official stepped in towards the shooter to make his presence known because one of the Memphis players was heading towards the foul line. They may not have caught it at first but they did recognize what was going on and made sure it didn't escalate.

that may be the case on paper but I watch a lot of games on ESPN and the Big Ten Network, I pay very close attention to the Reffs and IMO they allow a lot more physical play than most other major conferences (specifically the Big 12 and the SEC).

Matter of fact this was brought up by a few ESPN talking heads when they were discussing Wisconsin and the point the ESPN heads made was allowing the more physical play hurts Big Ten teams come tournament time. When a slower player is allowed to grab, push or bang on a better athlete in conference and then he gets called for that in the NCAA Tourney it causes a situation that the Big Ten team has to adjust for. That adjustment can sometimes hurt their play immensely.

My point is the very same officials that work the Big Ten in the top games, are the same officials that work the Big Ten top games as well. Steve Welmer, Tommy O'Neill, Ed Hightower, Jim Burr, Ted Hilary just to name a few. And if you watch on Big Monday on ESPN and Super Tuesday when some of the best games come from either conference, in that same week you can see officials I just mentioned and others not mentioned. You are not the only person that pays attention to this kind of thing. And I do not care what the ESPN people say, I watch games to. I can definitely see the same game called in both conferences. The only thing that might be different is the style of play with a couple of games. You should have been watching Texas-Oklahoma a few weeks ago. Very physical game. And the officials worked both conferences.

Nothing that talking heads say is a "matter of fact". Most of their information comes from a Mr. M. Yass (yes, they have to pull the information out of him normally).

The bottom line -- the top officials in the NCAA work in ALL of the top leagues - the only restriction being geography (you won't find an ACC official working Pac-10 and vice-versa for the most part).

It's all the SAME officials! To say that the Big 10 allows more rough play than the SEC is all based on commentators / fans perceptions, which are usually based on their on preconceived ideas rather than reality.