College basketball has the worst officials in any sport. In the NCAA Tourney, it’s all but embraced by administrators because it adds to the chaos that draws the ratings to this three-week gimmick. Teams wanting to go far have to be ready for it. There’s no better way to prepare than the SEC Tournament.
Perhaps I was wrong with my assessment that the Vols didn’t need to waste energy trying to win the league in Nashville just for a potentially higher seed by one spot. The attempt by the officials to make their whistles the star of the show rather than the players could have been the perfect simulation for the event.
None of this was on better display than the SEC Tournament Championship game Sunday, when in the Vols’ 86-75 loss, Chaz Lanier and Jahmai Mashack both fouled out with over five minutes to go. Felix Okpara finished with four fouls, and Igor Milicic Jr. had three fouls early into the second half.
Now, you could make a fair argument that Florida’s size advantage over the Vols, combined with their ability to keep up athletically, would result in more fouling. However, in both regular season games, the Vols committed 13 and 14 fouls each. They were called for 21 in this game.
In fact, in all three SEC Tournament games, the Vols and their opponents were called for more fouls than they averaged on the regular season. I’m not talking about averages. Individually, the Texas Longhorns, Auburn Tigers and Florida had more fouls called on them against UT than they averaged on the year, and UT had more fouls called on it in each of those games than its yearly average.
Seriously, what are the chances of that happening? It’s obvious that in the heat of the moment in front of the Bridgestone Arena crowd in Nashville, the officials got caught up and were quicker to blow their whistle. It was an embarrassing look for a league that has had officiating issues for a while.
Still, the silver lining in that is how far the Vols went. They reached the tournament title game amidst that whistle, and they can expect the same thing to happen in March Madness. After playing three of these games, Rick Barnes’ team should be ready next weekend.
The point of the NCAA Tournament is to advance, not be the best team. It’s a joke of a way to crown a champion but brings a ton of entertainment value. Awful officiating and quick whistles are part of that entertainment. Tennessee just had a three-day trial run of what’s about to happen.
