When it comes to using television replays to verify or correct officiating on the field, the rest of the college football world would be wise to adopt the Mountain West Conference's system.
Geez, who would have thought that a league with more than its share of officiating shortcomings would be "above the rest" on something like this?
All the other leagues (with the exception of the WAC and the Sun Belt, which don't use any replay) operate with officials in the press box monitoring the play on the field. They can stop the game while they review a play.
The MWC does that, too, but — like the NFL — it also allows coaches to challenge a ruling on the field and force that press-box review.
The failings of the Big Ten system, employed during the bowls, were obvious during the Rose Bowl on Wednesday night. Even at first glance, it was quite clear that Texas quarterback Vince Young's knee was on the ground before he pitched the ball to a teammate for a touchdown. It was crystal clear on the replays. And it was astonishing that the play was not reviewed.
And you'd think the officials would be in favor of coaches' challenges. If it had been in effect on Wednesday, people would be asking why USC coach Pete Carroll didn'tchallenge the call instead of why the officials — both on the field and in the booth — blew it.
FOR THAT MATTER, why can't coaches challenge an official's judgment call, not just where the ball ought to be placed and whether a fumble occurred? I thought the whole point of instant replay was to make sure a bad call doesn't decide a game.
Take, for example, Monday's Outback Bowl. An official incorrectly flagged an Iowa player for helmet-to-helmet contact, giving Florida an additional 15 yards and setting the Gators up to score a TD just before the half. The official wasn't grossly negligent — his angle on the play was bad — but he was wrong. A video replay could have corrected his inadvertent error.
Florida, you'll recall, beat Iowa by a single touchdown.
WHO'S NO. 1 in NFL TV ratings? It depends on who you ask, obviously, because both CBS and Fox are claiming the title.
They're both sort of telling the truth. And they're both sort of lying.
CBS's claim is based on a measurement by Nielsen Media Research called total audience — a cumulative, non-repeated number of individuals who have watched at least six minutes of NFL coverage on the network sometime this season. By that measurement, CBS leads Fox 143.9 million viewers to 138.3 million.
Not surprisingly, Fox mocks that claim and points to its lead in average audience — 15.5 million to CBS's 15.3 million.
But, in a case sort of like defining what "is" is, are we talking about all NFL coverage or just games? If you count pregame, halftime and postgame shows, Fox leads CBS in the ratings. But if you count just the games themselves, CBS leads Fox.
Gee, maybe we could ask the coaches and the sports writers to vote in a pair of polls so that we can determine who's No. 1.
E-mail: pierce@desnews.com