Michigan Drops From AP Top 25 After Western Michigan Win – But Replay Is The Bigger Issue

NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...

While not as stunning as the turn of events in the last nine seconds (or eight seconds, depending who you ask) of Saturday's primetime game versus Western Michigan University, Michigan has officially been dropped from the AP Top 25 Football Poll.

WMU fans – and seemingly most of the nation – may appreciate that Michigan did not leave the game totally unscathed. Michigan was ranked 16 in the AP Top 25 Poll going into the year, and as a perennial college football juggernaut, the steep drop is not insignificant (Michigan received 69 votes, putting them at 28). 

Football fans truly worried about the integrity of the game, though, will take a bigger lesson from this controversial outcome: something needs to be done about replay review.

Does Replay Review Really Make College Football Better?

Most NCAA College Football and NFL fans are, at a bare minimum, skeptical of referees. Every team has endured enough blown calls in big moments that there's a near universal doubt about their skills and intentions. That doubt has escalated into running gags of conspiracies about games and seasons being scripted when a call goes wrong.

Given that every play is caught on camera from virtually every angle, it's logical to think that the answer to questionable officiating lies in replay. It does not.

Michigan Win And AP Top 25 Drop Show The Truth About Replay

As implied by Michigan's AP Top 25 drop, a win over WMU did not move the needle on how voters feel about their quality of play. It's even highly possible that many felt Michigan didn't deserve to win that game. Because of that, it stands to reason that their AP Top 25 drop would have happened regardless, even if the refs didn't add one second back on the clock.

All of this points to the biggest lesson football can take from this game: that replay review was gratuitous. WMU players had already rushed the field in celebration. Michigan players and the stadium full of fans covered their heads in towels, likely expecting to be left off the next AP Top 25. Coaches shook hands.

Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood sailed what should have been his final pass so far out of the back of the end zone that all of the players trying to field it were out of bounds. It was utterly uncatchable, and everyone knew it. 

Michigan head coach Kyle Whittingham was not in the referee's ear about adding a second back on the clock. Fans were not lamenting about the refs being blind. The clock that everyone had eyes on, except the officials, apparently, was at zero.

Referees Need To Make Judgement Calls About Replay

So why open up Pandora's box? Referees are trained and paid to make judgement calls. The officiating crew that night should have used their judgement to conclude that whatever potential milisecond that may have passed is irrelevant. 

After all, game clock management is not so meticulously scrutinized throughout the game. There are starts and stops on the referee's whistle; seconds tick off as the ball is placed; and refs use their judgement as to when to blow the whistle when forward progress is stopped.

The NFL piloted a replay review protocol for missed pass interference calls in 2019 after officials missed a glaring PI against the New Orlean Saints in the playoffs. It was a massive failure that was ousted after just one season because, as it turns out, too much replay review can be a bad thing.

It makes no sense – in a game that everyone has accepted is over – that the crew for Michigan-WMU decided to nitpick over pixels as to when the WMU defender's glove may have grazed the ball. That was just bad judgement. 

End Of My AP Top 25 Rant

As fast as the game is, it is inevitable that officials will miss some things in real-time. NCAA College Football, the NFL, fans, and referees need to remember just how fast the game is when considering the use of replay. Is it really a helpful decision-making tool when it comes down to analyzing milliseconds and individual frames? Is it even good for competition and gameplay?

The AP Top 25 rankings are critical to playoff opportunity and success in college football, but the product on the field is much more important to fans and viewers. Everyone loves a good underdog. Everyone loves a fair playing field. Let the players play.

The post Michigan Drops From AP Top 25 After Western Michigan Win – But Replay Is The Bigger Issue appeared first on Stadium Rant.

More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos