The Big Ten is expanding access to replay reviews for all television broadcasts of games officiated by the league, beginning with Saturday's contests.
The league previously had announced expanded replay access for broadcasts of Friday night games only, which began with three contests last week. Wednesday's announcement comes on the heels of the controversial ending to last week's Western Michigan-Michigan game, as Big Ten replay officials restored one second on the game clock even though the clock on the NBC broadcast showed that time had expired with Western Michigan leading 12-7. After the review, Michigan scored on a 47-yard Hail Mary pass to win 13-12.
The Big Ten released a video and audio clip of its replay ruling several hours after the game, but enhanced replay access was not available during NBC's broadcast. The new access will include every Big Ten game as well as 21 nonleague games officiated by Big Ten on-field and replay crews. The broadcasts will "feature live audio between the game referee and replay official during reviews, alongside video of the game footage being viewed during the process and a view inside the state-of-the-art Big Ten Replay Center."
NCAA national coordinator of officials Ron Snodgrass sent a memo Tuesday to the conferences outlining a "standard timing protocol" to ensure consistency in how games are officiated. According to the memo, obtained by ESPN, "When a replay review requires time to be restored or otherwise adjusted, the replay official's decision will be based on the embedded game clock contained within the program feed. If the broadcaster is unable to provide an embedded game clock, the replay official will use the game-clock graphic displayed as part of the broadcast feed."
Had the protocol been in place last week, Western Michigan would have defeated Michigan 12-7 based on the expired clock shown on NBC's broadcast. Mid-American Conference commissioner Jon Steinbrecher wrote letters to the NCAA Football Oversight Committee and the College Football Playoff asking for Western Michigan to be declared the winner. The NCAA told ESPN that its playing rules do not include a mechanism for reversing outcomes of games that have already been declared over.
The Big Ten's enhanced replay access will include seven games Saturday, including No. 5 Indiana hosting Howard.
