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College basketball fans are furious with the officiating in the Baylor-North Carolina game
Published:
Officials tend to catch a lot of unnecessary grief inside the arena and on social media. During Saturday’s Baylor-North Carolina game in the Round of 32, the criticism seemed warranted.
A lot of calls were missed — or wrongly called — during the final 10 minutes of an epic clash between the Bears and Tar Heels. There was plenty of reaction from social media, too.
Both Baylor and North Carolina fans would likely tell you that they felt their team was on the wrong side of some critical calls. But from fans and media across college basketball, the game was poorly called for both sides.
Here’s just some of the reaction from social media:
This is one of the best/worst games in tourney history. I mean, give Baylor immense credit. And it's fair to ask why North Carolina's press offense is just a puddle of panic. But you cannot dismiss the role of incompetent officiating, too.
— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) March 19, 2022
If any of the refs in this game advance to the next round, it's a disgrace. They've been terrible.
— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) March 19, 2022
A joke. Refs are an absolute joke.
— Collin Sherwin (@CollinSherwin) March 19, 2022
The refs have been absolutely horrible and one-sided down the stretch.
That’s also not the only reason UNC blew a 25-point lead.
Both things can be true!
— Brian Rauf (@brauf33) March 19, 2022
Give credit to Baylor for clawing their way back into this but the officials turned this game on its head and have been absolutely PATHETIC today. They should not be officiating anymore tournament games.
— Aarman Sethi (@asethi03) March 19, 2022
North Carolina and Baylor are playing a physical, tough, competitive game. But, it’s not basketball. It’s hockey and rugby. This has been happening all season, and needs to change.
— Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) March 19, 2022
the refs have defeated the “bet money on Baylor” allegations by making 3 or 4 bad calls in North Carolina’s favor in a row, never attribute to malice what can be adequately explained by incompetence
— Rodger Sherman (@rodger) March 19, 2022
There’s no chance this crew gets another game in the NCAA Tournament, nor should it.
— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) March 19, 2022
Literally won’t call a foul on Baylor when they trap the ball. This is like bad aau officiating
— Doug Gottlieb (@GottliebShow) March 19, 2022
Just some atrocious officiating this week at #MarchMadness. Some of these crews need to be removed. And the NCAA should announce such decisions when/if they’re made. We need more transparency and accountability with officiating, particularly at championship events. Stop hiding.
— Brandon Marcello (@bmarcello) March 19, 2022
lol this officiating is off the rails… at least evening out a little bit
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) March 19, 2022
NCAA needs to do something about officiating. Centralize it and make them full-time professionals, you can't tell me the money isn't there.
— Nightcrawler and Boilermaker Stan (@Holmes_y_Rails) March 19, 2022
People that complain about NBA officiating — clearly don’t watch college basketball.
— Colin Cowherd (@ColinCowherd) March 19, 2022
These refs suck. Your boy from Baylor pulled down Bakot. That should be dead ball and a whistle. Instead, numbnuts lets it go, Bakot trips Eminem, and the ref gives a double foul. Chicken sh*t officiating. (Sorry, my ref friends)
— Boiled Sports (@BoiledSports) March 19, 2022
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB