I'm gonna start the conspiracy theories now -- the NCAA puts a little extra $$$ in the pockets of the refs if they can stack the cards in Xavier's favor. Because, hey, a Xavier-Ohio St. matchup (old romp of Matta vs. new) will bring more ratings than BYU v. Ohio St.
What really happened?? A superior BYU team got handcuffed by refs that put them in the bonus with over 14 minutes to go. Xavier didn't hit the bonus until 7 minutes. Yes, a full seven minutes of free points. Xavier ended 23-29 from the line while BYU was 10-13 from the line. 13 free points? BYU lost by 2? Hmmm, sounds like an 11 point swing to me.
Whatever the nefarious reason really was, it was clear that the refs were calling the game tight at one end and loose at the other. They called it clean--no phantom fouls--but ticky-tack. On the other hand, Xavier was doing the same thing at their defensive end and getting away with it.
I hate that.
Well, good luck Xavier. I hope Ohio St kills you by 50. Long live Texas A&M and Georgetown, Kansas and Florida. That's the final four.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
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2 comments:
If we're doing conspiracies, how about the church paying refs in the MWC to make sure the "home" team doesn't get their pius little asses handed to them?
possibly, but for the sake of devil's advocate, there seems to be a lot less payback for the church (especially given the horrible stretch of years BYU had before Cleveland had Arrujo and now Dave Rose as coach) than payback the NCAA receives from getting the game we all saw last night between Xavier and Ohio St.
In reality, I think it was unfortunate that BYU shot so few free throws compared to Xavier, but not really a conspiracy, and I was actually pulling for Xavier during that final minute of regulation. Too bad they let me down too...
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