KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) — After review, the Mid-American Conference wants Western Michigan recognized as having defeated Michigan after all.
Citing what it believes to be an “extraordinary” circumstance, the MAC appealed the outcome of the Michigan-Western Michigan game on Tuesday and asked NCAA and College Football Playoff administrators to recognize the Broncos as the actual winner. The CFP is a particularly notable request since its bracket selection choices in December carry significant financial benefits to teams that make the playoff.
Michigan won 13-12 on a Hail Mary pass Saturday night after the replay official put one second back on the clock. The stadium clock and the one shown on television showed zeroes after Bryce Underwood’s first Hail Mary try was thrown out the back of the end zone — and those, the MAC believes, are the clocks that count.
“I recognize that the selection committee’s responsibilities are governed by its established criteria and that the committee does not ordinarily alter results recorded on the field,” MAC Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher wrote in his letter to the CFP. “Nevertheless, the circumstances of this game are extraordinary. The final outcome was directly affected by a replay officiating error resulting from the failure to follow an established and specific protocol designed to resolve end-of-half timing situations. In these circumstances, I believe it is appropriate for the committee to consider the actual circumstances of the contest when evaluating Western Michigan.”
The controversy was the talk of college football on the long holiday weekend with many questions surrounding how the officiating crew decided to put a second back on the clock and give Michigan one more try at the win.
The Big Ten two hours after the game explained that the call was correct and published a recording of the replay as it was reviewed by the officials; that showed the game clock at 1 second when the ball was touched by a player, WMU’s Micah Davis, who had just been out of bounds — meaning the the clock stops on such contact.
The Big Ten said time had not expired on a separate clock embedded within its replay system. Western Michigan and the MAC initially accepted the explanation, but that had changed by Tuesday.
“After further study and investigation, it is now evident that replay protocol was not properly followed in determining whether time remained on the game clock at the conclusion of the Western Michigan vs. Michigan football game,” Steinbrecher said.
Messages seeking comment were sent to the NCAA, CFP, Big Ten and Michigan. Game results are rarely if ever changed after the fact unless the NCAA throws out or vacates results because of rules infractions, though there are countless examples of questionable decisions by officiating crews affecting the outcome (Colorado beating Missouri on a fifth down in 1990 is familiar to many).
Steinbrecher said established replay protocol requires that the game clock displayed on the program feed — meaning the broadcast — be used in determining whether time remained.
“This was not a judgment regarding the proper amount of time to place on the clock,” Steinbrecher said. “It was an error in the application of the established replay protocol governing this specific end-of-game timing situation. Had the protocol been properly followed and the program-feed clock been used, no additional play would have been awarded, and Western Michigan would have won the game, 12-7.”
Western Michigan was voted as the preseason favorite in the MAC, and that would suggest that the possibility certainly exists for it to factor into the CFP rankings. The highest-ranked team from the American, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West, Pac-12 or Sun Belt gets an automatic bid into the playoff.
Michigan was ranked No. 16 in the preseason AP Top 25 poll but dropped out of the rankings Tuesday.
“I recognize that the oversight committee does not ordinarily alter results recorded on the field,” Steinbrecher said in his letter to the NCAA. "Nevertheless, the circumstances of this game are extraordinary. ... Western Michigan should not be disadvantaged because the prescribed replay protocol was not followed and an unsynchronized clock was used to award a play that, under the applicable procedure, should not have occurred.”
___
Sign up for Top 25 poll alerts here, visit the Top 25 here and see AP’s full college football coverage here
