Is anyone out there working any NCAA tournament or NIT games?
Also how are these officials selected?
I have heard that once picked, they are whittled down by crews just as the teams are. ie you goof, you're out.

I was told this weekend that to be eligible to work the NCAA tournament, you have to work a conference tournament final. Anyone know if that's true?

Chuck

Well surely they would give at-large bids to officials, too. (^:
Seriously. My recollection is that there 31 conferences that get automatic bids. At least one (Ivy League) don't have tourneys. That leaves 30 crews (at most) to do the opening round of 32 games.
I'm guessing it's not true.

Adam

It cannot be totally true. There were some officials that did more than one Championship game.

Peace

not true at all
 

There are 96 officials that work the 1st round, half of those work the 2nd round. I know of 7 Pac-10 officials who worked the 1st round, and only 3 made the next round-they were on separate crews...all 3 refs that worked the conference championship worked the 1st round.

Not sure how things work after that, other than that there are 10 officials sent to the final 4. (6 for the semis, 3 for the finals, and 1 alternate)

I don't know about NIT, but NCAA is pretty straightforward:

Conference assignors submit a list of their officials, which are listed by "rank," so to speak.

Each automatic qualifying conference is guaranteed at least one official to be "in."

96 officials (32 games/crews) are selected for the first round. The referee from one game will act as the alternate for a specified other game. 48 officials (16 games/crews) are pre-selected (i.e., at the same time as the 1st round) to work a second-round game. In order to work a 2nd round game, the official must have been assigned (floor or alternate) to a 1st round game). These assignments are by individual, not by crew.

Any official working a First round game is then eligible for an assignment to the regional. 36 officials (12 games/crews) are selected - 3 at each regional site (regional semifinals and finals). An official would only work the regional final or a regional semifinal.

Any official working at a regional is then eligible for a Final Four assignment. 3 crews are selected (1 for each Semifinal and for the National Championship Game), plus one alternate (covers all games) for a total of 10 officals.

Crews or Individuals?
 

Mark,

Is it that they select 3 crews or individuals? In other words, would a Ted Higgins advance and both his crew members for the Regional Finals not go any further?

Peace

To whom do they submit these lists?

PS I heard that Mike Kitts was not on the Big East list this year due to the six on the court incident, but he must have been on the list for some other conference since he worked the Cinci/Gonzaga game. I think that is terrible.

Re: Crews or Individuals?
 

Sorry - I should have clarified. They select enough individuals to fill three crews. To my knowledge, advancement in the NCAA tournament is always by individual, not by crew.

The Men's Basketball Committee.

Do you know who these individuals are? Also do they make the selections or do they ask others for help or delegate the job? Or even simply serve as a rubber stamp for the lists that the conference assignors submit to them?

When are you going to let it go? You have money on that game?

Geesh.

Rich

If you are privvy to the lists how come you don't know how the selections are made?

Do you know who these individuals are? Also do they make the selections or do they ask others for help or delegate the job? Or even simply serve as a rubber stamp for the lists that the conference assignors submit to them? [/B][/QUOTE]

10 individuals (generally AD's and the like) from around the country who know a hell of a lot about basketball. You can download the championship handbook (which has all of their names and much more) at http://www.ncaa.org/library/handbook...03/index.html.

I'm not sure exactly how they go about assigning officials, but the manual seems to indicate that the committee is pretty important when it comes to selecting officials. (Visiting officials seem to schmooze more with the member from my school than any of the coaches.)

My paper said that the three officials from the Seton Hall/G'town game were suspended for two games and banned from post season by the Big East. I am merely pointing out a loophole. It seems to me that there really was no punishment at all, since they could simply now pick up games from some other conference for which they work on those dates, and they could still make the post season. This is a farce!
PS Rich F as a G'town grad, I can't let it go. I will NEVER forgive Kitts for this.

[Edited by Nevadaref on Mar 28th, 2003 at 05:05 AM]