09/08/26 10:18:00
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09/08 22:16 CDT NCAA says it can't overturn Michigan's win over Western
Michigan after MAC appeals outcome
NCAA says it can't overturn Michigan's win over Western Michigan after MAC
appeals outcome
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) --- After review, the Mid-American Conference wants
Western Michigan recognized as having defeated Michigan after all.
The NCAA said the call stands.
Citing what it believes to be an "extraordinary" circumstance in appealing the
outcome of the Michigan-Western Michigan game, the MAC asked NCAA and College
Football Playoff administrators on Tuesday to recognize the Broncos as the
winner instead of the Wolverines. The CFP's bracket selection choices in
December carry significant financial benefits to teams that make the playoff.
A few hours later, the NCAA said the result will stand, noting its playing
rules do not have a protocol for overturning the outcome of a game and the
Division I Football Bowl Subdivision Oversight Committee does not have the
authority to do so. According to the NCAA Football Rules Book, the team with
the most points at the end of the game is the winner and the score is final
when the referee declares the game has ended.
"No rule decision may be changed after the ball is next legally snapped,
legally free-kicked or the second or fourth periods have ended," the rule book
says.
Michigan won 13-12 on a Hail Mary pass Saturday night after the replay official
had put one second back on the clock when Bryce Underwood's first try was
incomplete.
The controversy was the talk of college football on the long holiday weekend
with many questions surrounding how the officiating crew decided to give
Michigan time for another try at the win. The MAC initially accepted the Big
Ten explanation but that had changed by Tuesday.
An NBC replay showed a clock expiring before the ball hit the ground or any
player, leading to two days of questions about what clock everyone was looking
at. NBC said the next day that its cameras "are not the official arbiter" of
game time, that in this case it was the responsibility of the Big Ten.
The Big Ten said after the game --- and reaffirmed Tuesday --- that the call
was correct and published a recording of the replay as it was reviewed by
officials. The conference said it too used a shot of the game clock in the
stadium, which showed 1 second remaining when the ball on the first Michigan
pass was touched by WMU's Micah Davis. Since Davis had just been out of bounds,
the clock would stop on such contact.
CFP executive director Rich Clark told CBS Sports it was too early to say how
Western Michigan or Michigan will be treated in potential rankings discussions.
The first CFP rankings won't be issued until Nov. 3.
"We would have to bring that to the management committee to give guidance on
how that should be considered," Clark told CBS Sports.
In his letter to the FBS Oversight Committee, MAC Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher
said "established protocol" in this situation is that the television truck is
contacted with a request to insert the in-stadium game clock onto "the program
feed" --- NBC's feed in this case --- and that is supposed be the sole source
of the replay decision.
"Had the prescribed protocol been followed and the program-feed clock been
used, no additional time would have been restored, no additional play would
have been awarded and Western Michigan would have won the game 12--7,"
Steinbrecher wrote.
According to multiple reports, NCAA national coordinator of officials Ron
Snodgrass sent guidance to conferences and officials on Tuesday to clear the
air.
"Recognizing the replay technology and available broadcast resources may vary
among institutions, conferences and game sites, it is necessary to establish a
standard timing protocol that ensures consistency in the administration of all
college football games," the memo said.
The guidance will make clear that "to be considered by the instant replay
official, the game clock must be embedded in the instant replay's program feed
or the game clock graphic when accurately displayed as part of the broadcast
feed."
Game results are rarely, if ever, changed after the fact unless the NCAA
vacates results because of rules infractions, though there are countless
examples of decisions by officiating crews affecting the outcome (Colorado
beating Missouri on a fifth down in 1990 is familiar to many).
Western Michigan was voted the preseason favorite in the MAC, raising hopes for
a potential CFB berth. The highest-ranked team from the Group of Six leagues
gets an automatic bid to the playoff.
"I recognize that the oversight committee does not ordinarily alter results
recorded on the field," Steinbrecher said. "Nevertheless, the circumstances of
this game are extraordinary. ... Western Michigan should not be disadvantaged
because the prescribed replay protocol was not followed and an unsynchronized
clock was used to award a play that, under the applicable procedure, should not
have occurred."
Western Michigan President Russ Kavalhuna backed the MAC's request.
"Being bitter doesn't make you better and this should not be mistaken for
weakness or agreement," Kavalhuna said in a statement posted on social media.
"We can show respect for the game while also asking serious questions; I've
done both, and I'll keep doing both."
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