Monday, March 26, 2007

Zebra Watch...

ACC Referees Also Take a Pounding in the NCAA Tournament

ACC teams weren't the only conference representatives who made early exits from the NCAA Tournament. Of the ten conference referees who were invited to work the tournament, only two were around for the second weekend of March Madness. Jamie Luckie worked the Tennessee-Ohio State game, while Karl Hess worked the Texas A&M - Memphis game. The SEC led the way with seven officials working in the sweet sixteen and elite eight rounds. Six Big East officials advanced to the second weekend of play, while five Big 12 and PAC 10 officials advanced.

Nine officials from this weekend's action will be selected to work the Final Four. My guess is that PAC 10 officials Richard Cartmell, Vern Harris and Randy McCall will not be among those working the Final Four. They were the crew that missed the traveling call at the end of the Vanderbilt-Georgetown game. In my Zebra Sightings post last week, I indicated that the crew from the Xavier -Ohio State game would not be back after missing the intentional foul at the end of the game. I was partially correct. Mike Wood and Les Jones stayed home this past weekend while John Cahill called the Butler-Florida game only to be blasted by an anonymous poster who wasn't quite sure which conference Cahill represented.

Mike Roberts and Mike Littlewood advanced to the sweet sixteen despite not calling second round games. I had thought if a referee didn't work in the second round, they were done for the tournament, but apparently any of the 96 officials who worked the first weekend can advance to the second weekend.
I found a good article on how the selection process works for officials:

Among the top officials who did not advance to the second weekend of the tournament are Frank Scagliotta, Rick Hartzell, Jim Burr and Ted Hillary.
Sweet 16 and Elite 8 Referees by Conference
Official.............Conference.....Sweet 16.....Elite 8
Luckie, Jamie........ACC............UT-OSU.
Hess, Karl...........ACC*...........TX AM-MEM.
Hughes, John.........Atlantic 10....TX AM-MEM.
Perone, Ray..........Atlantic 10....SIU-KU.
Roberts, Mike........Atlantic 10*...USC-UNC.
Corbet, Ed...........Big East.......UNLV-Ore.
Greenwood, Reggie....Big East.......UNLV-Ore.
Higgins, Tim.........Big East....................MEM-OSU
Cahill, John.........Big East*......But-Fla.
Driscoll, Pat........Big East*......UT-OSU.
Kitts, Michael.......Big East*...................MEM-OSU
Collins, JD..........Big Ten........But-Fla.
Janssen, Paul........Big Ten.....................UCLA-KU
Sanzere, Mike........Big Ten........USC-UNC.
Gray, Donnee.........Big Ten*....................MEM-OSU
Hall. David..........Big-12.........UNLV-Ore.
Whitehead, Mark......Big-12......................UCLA-KU
Higgins, John........Big-12*.....................Gtown-UNC
Shaw, Curtis.........Big-12*.....................Gtown-UNC
Thornley, Scott......Big-12*.......Pitt-UCLA.
O'Neill, Tom.........C-USA*......................Ore-Fla
Rose, Larry..........C-USA*........Pitt-UCLA.
Wymer, Terry.........MAC*........................Ore-Fla
Littlewood, Mike.....MWC...........But-Fla.
Harris, Vern.........Pac 10........Vandy-Gtown.
McCall, Randy........Pac 10........Vandy-Gtown.
Scyphers, Mike.......Pac 10......................Gtown-UNC
Cartmell, Richard....Pac 10*.......Vandy-Gtown.
Libbey, David........Pac 10*.......UT-OSU.
Eades, Tom...........SEC...........Pitt-UCLA.
Lindsay, Joe.........SEC...........TX AM-MEM.
Lopes, Tom...........SEC...........USC-UNC.
Shows, Doug..........SEC...........SIU-KU.
Valentine, Ted.......SEC.........................UCLA-KU
Greene, Tony.........SEC*..........SIU-KU.
Stuart, Mike.........SEC*........................Ore-Fla

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Hess was part of the team that got the timing issue right at the end in A&M/Memphis, right?

That call gave a lot of TV people and fans a chance to show they don't understand the rules or can't pay attention to a replay.

Anonymous said...

Yes... It looked like Hess was actually the one with the stopwatch in his hand when they were trying to figure out how much time to put on the clock. At least the CBS broadcast crew gave the officials credit for getting the time right when they started coverage of the 2nd game. I wonder if anyone at NCAA mission control preassured them into the clarification.

I hope Hess and Luckie both get Final Four assignments. Their chances may be improved since there are no ACC teams left. A good indicator will be to see who is working the NIT games tonight. Since the NCAA controls the NIT assignments now, I don't think you see any of the crews working the NIT Final Four at the NCAA Final Four.