Although the Big Ten will use instant replay review in its
conference football games next year, the Pac-10 is not currently
considering a similar idea.
“Sure, instant replay is a good thing for college
football, but there are many problems with it,” Pac-10
Assistant Commissioner Jim Muldoon said. “Namely that there
aren’t as many televised games nor as many cameras as there
are in pro football.”
While Muldoon said the Pac-10 is not considering any proposals
for instant replay review, they will discuss it at this
year’s coaches’ meetings May 4th in Phoenix.
The NCAA has approved the Big Ten’s proposal for the
implementation of instant replay review on an experimental
basis.
College football’s form of instant replay review will
allow only an impartial technical adviser to request a review and
render a judgment on a controversial play. In pro football, coaches
of each team are allowed to call for reviews as well. The hope is
that close games will have the most crucial plays called correctly,
generating less controversy.
The pro football variation of this idea has been successful, but
it has also slowed games down considerably. If college coaches are
not allowed to call for reviews, then the pace of the game may not
be as affected as it is in pro football.
The main drawback to this experiment, and any further expansion
of it, is that not all games, even in major conferences like the
Big Ten or Pac-10, are televised.
To make instant replay review feasible, there needs to be
multiple camera angles possible for each play to assure accuracy.
This system would only use cameras provided by the Big Ten’s
broadcast partners, so unless a game is televised, it will not have
instant replay review.
All televised non-conference games in Big Ten stadiums would
have the option of instant replay review as well.
This experiment is the result of a study done last year by the
Big Ten, where officials reviewed controversial calls on the Monday
following each game. Of the roughly 11,000 plays in 68 games last
year, review was deemed necessary for around 50.
Dave Parry, the Big Ten’s supervisor of football
officials, was quoted in USA Today as saying that “as many as
eight to 10 to 12″ calls significantly impacted the outcome
of the game.