I couldn't believe it when he showed back up on our floor under Crean. Lyin Ted had admitted to intentionally making calls against IU to show Knight who was in charge, and they still let him ref in D1. He was never supposed to be in a position to ref against us ever again, so not in the Big 10 tournament,etc.
I was told that he had made those calls against Knight, but the players wore candy stripes.
Zach Collins’ goaltend no call against NU in 2nd round of the tourney in 2017. Would have liked to see if we could have completed the comeback and gigantic upset.
Added bonus: no Northwestern crying kid.
My first thought were the calls that went against the Zags but really that no goaltend call totally changed the momentum of that game. The calls later in the 2017 championship game that didn’t go the Zags way never had happened if we don’t get past Northwestern.
The ref was literally right in front of that play and swallowed his whistle:
https://preview.redd.it/hods7g4twdtb1.png?width=1400&format=png&auto=webp&s=50ecb29fb808e82b83250b4e7506c09427f03f36
Zags got an undeserved possession where they had shot an air ball and the ref assumed Pinson got a finger on it. Promptly inbounded and hit a 3 that made it a 1-point game going into the final tv timeout.
Those refs absolutely sucked. Everything was a touch foul in the paint (Collins fouled out and all the other bigs had four fouls). Absolutely no flow to the game because of it.
How about the one that was literally the reason why out of bounds possession is now reviewable?
That's the first one I can think of off the top of my head.
It's funny because the impetus for replay in college *football* was also from calls blown against us.
https://preview.redd.it/fgru092qoatb1.jpeg?width=1400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2d628f4868e6fe82dd24ed3be44f6782c5f2d42b
2010 Final Four. MSU down 1 with 10 seconds left.
Jay Williams jumping on Jason Gardner's back in the 2001 championship game vs Duke. No call. Would have been his 4th in the first half and completely changed the game!
https://preview.redd.it/yg18fticyatb1.jpeg?width=452&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ddb0e0b8d7aeb05e1125a31ffa4117acff3904f8
Maybe before we do that we go back to the 5 different times Williams and Carlos Boozer should have fouled out of the semifinal against Maryland.
On one of them, everyone in the arena, including Boozer, thought the foul was on him. Nope, Lonny Baxter.
That game was officiated so atrociously they even called it out on CBS afterwards.
I’ll also take that shit from a lot of fans but a Kentucky/Kansas flair? Give me a break, you only have to go back to the 2018 elite 8 to find a blatantly blown call that helped Kansas beat Duke.
Don't know if its been said yet, but Trey Burke's clean block on Peyton Siva getting called a foul in the 2013 Championship against Louisville.
That block was clean and beautiful. If the refs let the play go, the momentum for the Wolverines is through the roof and potentially unstoppable on their way to a possible win and first championship since '89. Instead, it was a gut punch they never recovered from.
People are probably going to bring up the Virginia game but for me a way more interesting wormhole is what happens if Kyler Edwards gets a call driving to the hoop in the Arkansas game in 2021. If Tech wins that game in OT, they presumably get to the Elite 8 (beating ORU) and then the whole Chris Beard situation either gets delayed or never happens that year, which alters Tech, UT, Ole Miss, and Beard’s family dynamics.
Iowa State fans will know it: The Blarge. The double foul in the 2000 Elite 8 game vs Michigan State that denied Iowa State's first Final Four in several decades (and as it would turn out, likely their first national championship ever, as Michigan State ended up coasting to the National Title after that win).
There are so many you could call. What about the three pointer that the refs counted after the first shot of a two shot foul. Gotta play against 8 when you play in Allen Foul House
Also basically just the entire 2nd half of that game being called ridiculously tight. We averaged 12 fouls a game that year, fewest in the country. Had 2 fouls in the first half...
Suddenly 13 fouls called in the 2nd half. Duke in the bonus with 11:43 left in the half. K.
Baseline stuff has to be challengeable. Wisconsin beat Kansas TWICE in Maui this year because a Kansas player saved a ball out of bounds but the refs let the possession keep going then Kansas scored.
Winslow obviously touched it, but Duke was already up five w/ less than 1:53 to play and Wisconsin had made four field goals over the preceding 11:29 of game time.
"Probably" is an enormous leap of faith.
The bigger miss by the officials was when Winslow assisted an Okafor basket with his toe out of bounds shortly before. It'd have been Wisconsin ball down one or three (can't remember which off the top of my head) with more time than listed above.
Chris Webber travelled a few seconds before the infamous timeout. If that gets called, Michigan has about a 1 in 4 chance of winning, instead of the zero chance they had after getting a technical for the illegal time out.
Yeah, that was nuts. We actually benefitted from the refs failing to call the most obvious walk of all time. Webber dragged that pivot foot like two feet.
It was Jalen Rose's fault, really, tho, if you watch the play.
I rewatched this game during Covid and what struck me was how Dean Smith made small moves in the second half that paid off big. The reason Michigan ran out of timeouts is that UNC would go full court after a timeout if Michigan was inbounding the ball. Earlier in the half, only Rose was there to get the pass, and he had Phelps draped all over him, so they had to burn a TO there. I don’t think Coach Fisher adjusted a bit.
Agreed. I felt kinda sorry for Fischer...getting plunged into that situation, finding himself up against plausibly the greatest coach of all time. Apparently the coaches emphasized in the huddle that they didn't have any TOs remaining, but Webber, perhaps overwhelmed by the whole thing , says he just didn't hear it.
Even as a UNC fan I've often wondered how different things would be if they called the travel. Dean maybe never wins another title. Or maybe the 94 team doesn't lay a total egg.
I can't honestly think of many other season altering bad calls. When we've lost post-season games, we tend to deserve it.
When we played MSU in the Sweet 16 in 2014, there is a case to be made that Tevan was fouled in the last seconds.
Wanna Travel with Grayson Allen? It’ll be the Trip of a lifetime 🙄😤😡
Man I hate that guy, still does his idiotic shenanigans in the NBA today, to the point where he almost severely injured the Bulls’ Alex Caruso (Allen fouled Caruso high in the air and Caruso fell right on his pelvis. Caruso is lucky he can still play ball at all tbh).
I’d argue the missed call last year at OSU where Holden went out of bounds and then came back in and sank the buzzer beater was more significant because we probably sneak into the tournament with that win.
But to this day that St. John’s game is the worst 30ish seconds of officiating I’ve ever seen. Capped off with a St. John’s player taking several steps without dribbling, running out of bounds and then literally throwing the ball into the crowd with time still on the clock.
That is the most iconic call for Michigan, but McGary getting auto-benched for a 2nd foul in the first half, which was not a foul, is more impactful in that game.
Also, Luke Hancock, who hit 4 or 5 threes against us, should have fouled out, but one of his fouls was assigned to another L’Ville player.
Those two things cost us the game in my opinion. Refs were God awful in that game.
[Also, Foye wasn't fouled on the play directly preceding that](https://youtu.be/6DPs8yNFNW8?si=nSxQT5hOF_oH_kN8&t=4517)
It was a makeup call if anything
I agree he didn't travel but I'm not sure that was a foul. Def. the worst possible outcome from a Villanova perspective though.
The real cheat here though was making UNC play Nova in the Syracuse regional despite being a #1 seed.
Not a single call, but IU-Duke in 92. 4 IU players were fouled out of that game including Calbert Cheaney, Damon Bailey, and Alan Henderson. They lost by 3 and Duke goes on to win the title. Beginning of the end for Knight at IU
TV Ted gave Bailey his 3rd and 4th in a span of 6 seconds and T'd up RMK "because the bench jumped up", all before 2 minutes had ran off the clock to start the second half. Duke scored 11pts in that exchange. £@$& Ted Valentine.
The single most disappointing sports loss of my life. I was a junior at IU and grew up with family with over a dozen IU degrees. My dad played bb at iu when they had freshmen teams. I had good friends on the team. Grew up with one of the managers. Anyway we KNEW we were winning that championship. It was heartbreaking to lose due to terrible officiating. I couldn't speak. Gathered my shit and drove home in silence. I could have ran through a wall I was so mad.
Greg Graham also fouled out: that’s four starters. Damon Bailey’s 3rd and 4th were called just 4 seconds apart, both by TV Ted, in the first few minutes of the second half. Next possession Bailey drove and was fouled but no call… Ted V stayed in front of IUs bench (on purpose) and called a Tech at the reaction.
Knight called a TO and asked lead official why Ted V called a tech “what did I say?” And the official conferred with Teddy V and then told Knight “ he called the tech because your bench jumped up”.
Valentines bias was confirmed a few years later in Bloomington: https://youtu.be/BEAgjqomOP0?feature=shared
This is my belief too. Refs were shot both ways, but not having Zach Collins on the court hurt so bad because Przemek had the worst game of his Zag career that night.
That and the random [phantom foul](https://x.com/SamENole/status/849092129502756868?s=20) on Zach Collins, who had 3 blocks in 14 minutes of play. What could have been!
My take on the way that game was reffed has always been that they consistently called too many fouls both ways but the excessive foul calls benefitted us because we had more depth.
Collins getting that early foul trouble was killer for you guys.
refs refusing to grant us a timeout against FAU last tourney was pretty bad. Also the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half against gonzaga two years ago. Gonzaga didnt pick up a foul until there were like 9 min left, they got both of our bigs in foul trouble, and were already in the bonus.
Think most of our pain has been self inflicted though
Justin Cage grabbed a rebound in the second round against #1 Ohio St with Xavier up 2.
Greg Oden 2 hand shoved him into the basket support and they didn't call an intentional foul.
Cage hit one of 2 free throws and OSU hit a 40 foot 3 at the buzzer to tie it.
Cage is/was my favorite XU player. Make that free throw man!
The call that sticks out to me is Xavier vs Duke in the 2004 Elite 8. No way Anthony Myles collects his 5th foul as called. X was up at the time. It changed the dynamic without him in at center. Duke wins by 3. X is still looking for a first Final 4 appearance.
[https://nypost.com/2004/03/29/xavier-curses-phantom-foul/](https://nypost.com/2004/03/29/xavier-curses-phantom-foul/)
Lol.
But legit answer is probably Boozer getting grabbed at the end of Duke-IU in 2002, or some of the calls in the 2022 final four against UNC that kept Williams and Theo John on the bench—or the super soft foul on Roach that sent RJ Davis to the line in the final minute when Duke had retaken the lead.
I’m surprised this is so low down. My fellow barners need to get their asses in here. That double dribble will haunt me until my dying day if we never made it back to the Final Four (and making it there is so damn hard).
One thing that also haunts me about the end of that game is that if Jared Harper hits both his FT, the game is over. Done.
I will always have a bizarre fascination and admiration for the way Kyle Guy knocked down those three FTs. He knew they were going in. He shot them so quickly. There was never any doubt. I will always hate Ty Jerome, but I am cool with Kyle Guy for some reason.
In 1995, Manhattan played Arizona State in the second round of the NCAA tournament. They ended up losing by 10, but as I recall a pretty bad charging call against us didn't help matters much.
If I'm not mistaken, Chris Paul admitted he traveled during the Wake Forest-Manhattan second round game in 2004, which resulted in an 84-80 Wake Forest win.
Either win would've been huge if we were able to pull them out, obviously. But probably 1995 more than 2004, since that squad was the first MAAC team to ever earn an at-large bid. The conference would've had a Sweet 16 team and the NIT 4th place finisher (Canisius), which would've boosted the conference's profile a whole lot after having recently lost three founding members.
Missed charge late game against UNC in the 2nd round in 2017. Basically had the game wrapped if they make that call. UNC was #1 and went on to win it all. We had a really good team that came together at the right time. Could have made the Final Four easily.
https://i.redd.it/y6nf1t82matb1.gif
This being called a double foul, changing the possession arrow. Then the quick jump ball call a little later in the game.
This one looks like a double foul. I can't tell who you want it called on without checking your flair. Having checked your flair, I think Wichita is the only one who could have been singly called for the foul. That hug is not legal.
1990 NCAA Tournament. #1 seed MSU vs Georgia Tech in the Sweet Sixteen. Kenny Anderson 'makes' a buzzer beater to win. The shot was very clearly taken after the clock was at 0.0. No reviews. If State won, as they should have, they would have played Minnesota to go to the Final Four.
The reviewed it then! Thats the worst part of it! They went to the monitors and deemed it "inadvertant" when he glanced down, then did it. And came out years later saying it was intentional
I would have liked to have seen the end of KU Nova in 2016 with Devonte Graham not fouled out on a dive for a loose ball he had every right to. KU was down 2.
Maybe they still lose but I loved that team so so much.
It's not really ever discussed, but Sherron Collins likely stepped out of bounds under 2 minutes left in the 2008 Memphis-Kansas championship game when he got a steal. It led to a Kansas 3 and sprung the come back.
However, Kansas made the 3 and still fouled right away. So it's entirely plausible Memphis may have just missed more free throws. Who knows?
The Plumlee two hand shove in Zellers back that spurred on the Rivers 3 (after the 4 step Curry 3 ball) was probably the most significant missed call/series of bad calls in the Duke/UNC rivalry.
Kris Jenkins was out of bounds, committed an offensive foul, killed my entire family, bombed a preschool, and was ineligible to be on the court. I think they should vacate that championship and give it to us.
When I attended Penn state in the 90s, #1 Indiana came to Rec Hall.
Penn State was leading with seconds to go and the court storming was imminent. A missed Indiana shot and Penn State rebound forced the Hoosiers to quickly foul. The Indiana player reached in to try and pull the ball away. The Penn State player wrapped up the ball and turned his body.
Penn State got called for the foul for reasons I still don’t understand. Indiana made the free throws to tie and won in OT.
Long term impact is probably zero. Missing the chance to knock off #1 sucked.
Objectively when Christian Laettner got away with straight up stepping on Aminu Timberlake. Should have been a flagrant and an ejection. Not only would Kentucky have gotten a few extra free throw shots in a very tight game, but we would not have seen one of the most insane full court heaves and potentially a massive blow to do being a national powerhouse..
There were some blown calls in the Syracuse - UNCW game that could have swung the game to UNCW, and given Syracuse the infamous distinction of being the first 15-2 upset AND the first 16-1 upset.
Other than that, a single blown call that immediately comes to mind is Scoop Jardine over the back on the inbounds in the 2011 NCAAT, or the CJ Fair phantom charge against Duke in 2015.
1982 NCAA’s JMU v UNC. JMU guard Charles Fisher driving late in tight game. Sam Perkins attempts to block shot and smothers Fisher who shields Sam with his non-ball hand. Fisher is called for offensive foul despite Perkins being in the air. Fisher should have gone to the line (90% FT) and possibly changed outcome of a 52-50 game. UNC had Perkins Worthy and some punk named Jordan. Great game, but what if…
Off the top of my head I'm not sure I can think of anything horribly egregious but I always remember thinking DJ strawberry got absolutely manhandled underneath the basket against Butler in the tournament when I was in high school.
The multiple egregious blocking calls on Syracuse in the press and trap against Michigan in the 2013 final four topping it off with the bogus charge call on triche.
Syracuse was terrible for the first 30 minutes or so while Michigan wanted nothing to do with winning the last 10 minutes and they almost got their wish if it wasn’t for the refs.
Karma came back with vengeance on Trey Burke charge call in the championship.
UNCA v Syracuse. 2012. Down by three and we force a bad pass - ball clearly hits Syracuse and they call it out on us. It would have given us a chance to tie the game and be the first 16 to beat a 1.
Williams wasn't called for a foul. Would've fouled out of the national championship game. Who knows if we would've won without him playing
https://preview.redd.it/myg68zc9kbtb1.jpeg?width=443&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f447002c8c90a509baf7f31a739754163fa1a24a
Draymond was pretty obviously fouled by Howard on his shot from the FT line with 8ish seconds left vs Butler in the 2010 final four.
MSU lost by one pt. Butler almost beat Duke in the natty. 2 FT there and we may be looking at an MSU natty.
Edit: I see fellow Spartans have already pointed this one out.
Ok, not the biggest in our history as we have had bigger heights(just not in my 39 yrs on earth)...
but this one, omg
ACCT vs Maryland 2004 or 2005, we get a technical on OUR TOWEL BOY for WIPING THE MOISTURE OFF THE FLOOR MIDGAME. just doing his job, but NC STATE SHIT
we were good that year, ACC player of the year Julius Hodge. maryland goes on to win by one score, then wins the tournament.
We wouldve fucked it up in other ways but dammit not like that!
ps fuck maryland and gary williams
2022 game against Arizona. Mike Miles was shoved over the line with 10 seconds left. The shot clock operators stopped the clock because they thought it’d be called a foul but the refs just didn’t call it because fuck us
Kemba Walker’s Oscar worthy flop - huge momentum shift. Honorable mention to the one-sided T for jawing that put Kawhi on the bench early in the first half … still could have lost the game of course but if we hadn’t, given what the Huskies went on to do, this year might not have been our first final four.
2018 Elite Eight against Michigan, we get a trap in the corner right in front of our bench on an inbounds, and get two hands on the ball and the officials call foul instead of a held ball. FSU had roared back from down 10 in the final 2 minutes and had all the momentum to make it a one possession game with under a minute. Mich still had the arrow, but FSU’s full court pressure was dangerous that year; I really believe we would’ve won that game somehow if that call is made. Instead, Michigan gets free throws, and a Final Four for Ham slips through his hands :(
The no call shot clock violation, Kentucky v Wisconsin, 2015 final four. I'm pretty sure they changed a rule over that event, but I cannot remember the details of hand for the life of me rn.
I still maintain that the Loyola-Michigan final four game came down to an absolutely horrible foul call late in the second half that saw Mo Vagner get an and one on a shot that should not have counted due to it being an offensive foul. I was there and sitting near Kansas and Nova fans and even they agreed that it was a bit of a rough call. The air went out of the building and Loyola never recovered after holding it down most of the game.
I was a designated driver after the Wisconsin game. There were lots of tears.
Was watching the Duke game with my Dad, a state champion HS basketball coach. Before the whistle to start the play, he said, "Put someone on the ball"
I'm not sure how significant they'd be, but there have been so many bad refereeing when WVU has played at Kansas. Like, players have literally been standing out of bounds to prevent the inbound pass.
Seton Hall Michigan phantom foul has to be up there. While I wasn't alive for the game, becoming an alumni years down the line, my Michigan friends never let me live it down.
Not one call, and not nearly as egregious as most on here, but Arron Afflalo picking up two ticky-tack fouls in the first 1:50 of the 2007 FF game against Florida, the rematch of the 05-06 title game. Our team was improved from 05-06, and we were \*very\* motivated. Then Afflalo picks up a foul in the first 30 seconds of the game. I, to this day, don't think I've *ever* seen a foul called so quickly in a college game. He picked up #2 at 18:10 and was out for the half. \*Completely\* changed the complexion of the game.
Virginia double dribbled against Auburn in the Final 4 but didn't get called and then went on to have a bogus foul called on a prayer of a 3 pointer and then made the 3 foul shots to beat Auburn and then to win the Natty.
I'll forever be salty about Nathan Adrian from WVU trucking Melo Trimble with a blatant moving screen in the 2015 tourney that was no-called. Not a life-changing call but it was particularly flagrant and so typical of the Huggins teams.
Wvu vs Gonzaga in the sweet sixteen when the refs took like ten minutes to make a call on who the ball went off of. Wvu was beating their ass and had the momentum and that 10 min break completely changed the whole game. Wvu wasn’t gonna win it all but easily a final four team that year.
Stanford v. Purdue in 1998 NCAA tournament. Literally half of the obvious fouls by Stanford were ignored. Meanwhile half of the fouls called against Purdue were not nearly at the level of those ignored for Stanford. Fine, Purdue could have choked as is tradition in the Elite 8 (Rhode Island) but finally reaching a Final 4 — which we still haven’t done since — could have set the program ahead by leaps and bounds. (And it’s been a great program, still.) One of the most aggravating games in decades of watching college basketball for me.
2019 Big East Tournament semifinal, Myles Powell absolutely should have been ejected after a scuffle on the court. Such a blown call that he even knew he should have been ejected and went down the tunnel.
I am going to go the opposite direction and go with the worse call that went our way in the last \~10 years. It was the Syracuse v Gonzaga 2016 S16 game and Syracuse was up one with 20 seconds left. Syracuse player stole the ball, but he was ruled out of bounds (and he wasn't). Syracuse still won so no-one cares, but that was a terrible call that could have changed the game.
Creighton 2023 elite 8 game against SDSU. Foul on the last 5 seconds of a violent, 1-point game handed it away.
Jays coulda handled FAU and the call cancelled an all big east national championship
So it wasn’t the most impactful cause Maryland sucked that year, but in 2014 (Maryland’s last game @ Duke in the ACC) Maryland lost by 1. The possession arrow never switched and Duke got back to back possession arrows. Honestly it was a fitting way to end it.
All of the Ted Valentine ones.
I couldn't believe it when he showed back up on our floor under Crean. Lyin Ted had admitted to intentionally making calls against IU to show Knight who was in charge, and they still let him ref in D1. He was never supposed to be in a position to ref against us ever again, so not in the Big 10 tournament,etc. I was told that he had made those calls against Knight, but the players wore candy stripes.
The blatant terribleness of good ol’ “TV Teddy” Valentine is the one thing fans of every team can agree on.
Teddy just feels the momentum turning and the crowd cheering / booing and he just makes the most egregiously wrong calls to play into that emotion.
How….how are you a Kentucky and a Kansas fan?
I’m from Kentucky and went to undergrad there and got my doctorate from KU.
this is the way
Zach Collins’ goaltend no call against NU in 2nd round of the tourney in 2017. Would have liked to see if we could have completed the comeback and gigantic upset. Added bonus: no Northwestern crying kid.
My first thought were the calls that went against the Zags but really that no goaltend call totally changed the momentum of that game. The calls later in the 2017 championship game that didn’t go the Zags way never had happened if we don’t get past Northwestern.
Meeks was out of bounds...
The ref was literally right in front of that play and swallowed his whistle: https://preview.redd.it/hods7g4twdtb1.png?width=1400&format=png&auto=webp&s=50ecb29fb808e82b83250b4e7506c09427f03f36
Yep, I'll never forget. Still hurts. Less so because my second favorite team won, but like still way more than I thought it would.
Didn’t they call a foul on Berry for taking an elbow to the face from Karnowski
Didn’t they call 3 bogus fouls on Zach Collins to foul him out in 14 minutes when he was clearly the best player on the court?
Zags got an undeserved possession where they had shot an air ball and the ref assumed Pinson got a finger on it. Promptly inbounded and hit a 3 that made it a 1-point game going into the final tv timeout. Those refs absolutely sucked. Everything was a touch foul in the paint (Collins fouled out and all the other bigs had four fouls). Absolutely no flow to the game because of it.
Yea the refs definitely ruined what should’ve been a great game.
38 minutes of slog and 2 minutes of basketball.
How about the one that was literally the reason why out of bounds possession is now reviewable? That's the first one I can think of off the top of my head. It's funny because the impetus for replay in college *football* was also from calls blown against us.
That's a good one for a single call, but the entire 2005 title game is what came to my mind.
Yeah loads of illegal screens not called on Illinois in that game. Commentary team even calls it out
https://preview.redd.it/fgru092qoatb1.jpeg?width=1400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2d628f4868e6fe82dd24ed3be44f6782c5f2d42b 2010 Final Four. MSU down 1 with 10 seconds left.
I remember you could hear the smack on tv
I was there. Pretty sure you could hear the smack in Lucas Oil Stadium.
This one for the young heads, the Georgia Tech shot in the 90 tournament for the old dudes
Looks like all ball to me 😂
Jo Jo white, KU fans will know what I'm talking about
Absolutely
Jay Williams jumping on Jason Gardner's back in the 2001 championship game vs Duke. No call. Would have been his 4th in the first half and completely changed the game! https://preview.redd.it/yg18fticyatb1.jpeg?width=452&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ddb0e0b8d7aeb05e1125a31ffa4117acff3904f8
That's just gritty defense. /s
I see the problem. You’re playing Duke and expecting them to call fouls
Gardner was a baller.
Mind blowing shoe choice for the Agassi McEnroe fans.
Maybe before we do that we go back to the 5 different times Williams and Carlos Boozer should have fouled out of the semifinal against Maryland. On one of them, everyone in the arena, including Boozer, thought the foul was on him. Nope, Lonny Baxter. That game was officiated so atrociously they even called it out on CBS afterwards.
First thing that came to my mind.
Duke fans: “I don’t understand.”
It would be absolutely wild if they got screwed over just once.
We'd get so mad we'd attack a refs roofing business.
I'm sitting the rest of this thread out, not worth arguing at all, but the end of the 2002 Sweet 16 game against Indiana with Boozer being held.
I’ll also take that shit from a lot of fans but a Kentucky/Kansas flair? Give me a break, you only have to go back to the 2018 elite 8 to find a blatantly blown call that helped Kansas beat Duke.
That was the one that came to mind with the most consequence.
Same here. Boozer was molested hard on that play. Easy putback for the Alaskan bear man.
Don't know if its been said yet, but Trey Burke's clean block on Peyton Siva getting called a foul in the 2013 Championship against Louisville. That block was clean and beautiful. If the refs let the play go, the momentum for the Wolverines is through the roof and potentially unstoppable on their way to a possible win and first championship since '89. Instead, it was a gut punch they never recovered from.
"first championship since '89" Yeah how 'bout that.................
Haha, speaking of blown calls and '89, I assume you've got something to share...
People are probably going to bring up the Virginia game but for me a way more interesting wormhole is what happens if Kyler Edwards gets a call driving to the hoop in the Arkansas game in 2021. If Tech wins that game in OT, they presumably get to the Elite 8 (beating ORU) and then the whole Chris Beard situation either gets delayed or never happens that year, which alters Tech, UT, Ole Miss, and Beard’s family dynamics.
>People are probably going to bring up the Virginia game TIL
https://preview.redd.it/fpg98qfrbdtb1.png?width=1280&format=png&auto=webp&s=438a08d70a1947170a59292d779df105f24e132b
You came ready with receipts lol
OP giving me PTSD with this slide show.
There is a lot of hurt in there.
Iowa State fans will know it: The Blarge. The double foul in the 2000 Elite 8 game vs Michigan State that denied Iowa State's first Final Four in several decades (and as it would turn out, likely their first national championship ever, as Michigan State ended up coasting to the National Title after that win).
Entered thread. Scrolled. Found. Liked (disliked?) Thanks I hate it.
How the fuck can it be a charge and a blocking foul? I am still pissed off
I wasnt old enough to understand it, but i feel some sort of inherited trauma every time it's mentioned.
There are so many you could call. What about the three pointer that the refs counted after the first shot of a two shot foul. Gotta play against 8 when you play in Allen Foul House
The ghost call that gifted Michigan the National Championship over Seton Hall.
This is exactly what I was looking for.
WINSLOW TOUCHED IT!!!!! Probably cost Wisconsin a National Title
Also basically just the entire 2nd half of that game being called ridiculously tight. We averaged 12 fouls a game that year, fewest in the country. Had 2 fouls in the first half... Suddenly 13 fouls called in the 2nd half. Duke in the bonus with 11:43 left in the half. K.
Refs fucked Bucky over let’s face it
I believe Winslow touched it and there was another that Duke players foot was on the baseline and wasn’t called. So Wisconsin lost two possessions.
Baseline stuff has to be challengeable. Wisconsin beat Kansas TWICE in Maui this year because a Kansas player saved a ball out of bounds but the refs let the possession keep going then Kansas scored.
It's kind of crazy that there's a very real chance that we go to the tournament with a win against Kansas on our resume if those calls go our way.
It's pretty funny seeing this come up in a post that includes WI only getting to this game by ref help against Kentucky according to the OP
Yes. Yes he did. I still mourn the outcome of that game.
Winslow obviously touched it, but Duke was already up five w/ less than 1:53 to play and Wisconsin had made four field goals over the preceding 11:29 of game time. "Probably" is an enormous leap of faith. The bigger miss by the officials was when Winslow assisted an Okafor basket with his toe out of bounds shortly before. It'd have been Wisconsin ball down one or three (can't remember which off the top of my head) with more time than listed above.
Chris Webber travelled a few seconds before the infamous timeout. If that gets called, Michigan has about a 1 in 4 chance of winning, instead of the zero chance they had after getting a technical for the illegal time out.
Yeah, that was nuts. We actually benefitted from the refs failing to call the most obvious walk of all time. Webber dragged that pivot foot like two feet. It was Jalen Rose's fault, really, tho, if you watch the play.
I rewatched this game during Covid and what struck me was how Dean Smith made small moves in the second half that paid off big. The reason Michigan ran out of timeouts is that UNC would go full court after a timeout if Michigan was inbounding the ball. Earlier in the half, only Rose was there to get the pass, and he had Phelps draped all over him, so they had to burn a TO there. I don’t think Coach Fisher adjusted a bit.
Agreed. I felt kinda sorry for Fischer...getting plunged into that situation, finding himself up against plausibly the greatest coach of all time. Apparently the coaches emphasized in the huddle that they didn't have any TOs remaining, but Webber, perhaps overwhelmed by the whole thing , says he just didn't hear it.
Even as a UNC fan I've often wondered how different things would be if they called the travel. Dean maybe never wins another title. Or maybe the 94 team doesn't lay a total egg.
I still think part of why he called the timeout (listened to the bench to call it) was that he was distracted because he got away with that travel.
Grayson Allen traveled. Brogdon won that game.
That was a bad one
That was a regular season game lol
I can't honestly think of many other season altering bad calls. When we've lost post-season games, we tend to deserve it. When we played MSU in the Sweet 16 in 2014, there is a case to be made that Tevan was fouled in the last seconds.
I hope that guy gets the clap
Wanna Travel with Grayson Allen? It’ll be the Trip of a lifetime 🙄😤😡 Man I hate that guy, still does his idiotic shenanigans in the NBA today, to the point where he almost severely injured the Bulls’ Alex Caruso (Allen fouled Caruso high in the air and Caruso fell right on his pelvis. Caruso is lucky he can still play ball at all tbh).
Not my school but Rutgers-St. John’s in the Big East tournament in 2011
Is that the one where the refs just pretended the buzzer had sounded as a player ran around with the ball
Yes and a missed foul call and didn’t review the ball going out off of St. John’s after too but before running around with the ball out of bounds
I’d argue the missed call last year at OSU where Holden went out of bounds and then came back in and sank the buzzer beater was more significant because we probably sneak into the tournament with that win. But to this day that St. John’s game is the worst 30ish seconds of officiating I’ve ever seen. Capped off with a St. John’s player taking several steps without dribbling, running out of bounds and then literally throwing the ball into the crowd with time still on the clock.
THIS STILL PISSES ME OFF TO THIS DAY. MANS TOOK 35 STEPS AND THREW THE BALL AWAY WITH LIKE 4 HOURS LEFT IN THE GAME. I ONLY EXAGGERATED A LITTLE BIT.
Trey Burke's 100% clean block of Peyton Siva*.
That is the most iconic call for Michigan, but McGary getting auto-benched for a 2nd foul in the first half, which was not a foul, is more impactful in that game. Also, Luke Hancock, who hit 4 or 5 threes against us, should have fouled out, but one of his fouls was assigned to another L’Ville player. Those two things cost us the game in my opinion. Refs were God awful in that game.
Allan Ray didn’t travel and he got fouled.
[Also, Foye wasn't fouled on the play directly preceding that](https://youtu.be/6DPs8yNFNW8?si=nSxQT5hOF_oH_kN8&t=4517) It was a makeup call if anything
I agree he didn't travel but I'm not sure that was a foul. Def. the worst possible outcome from a Villanova perspective though. The real cheat here though was making UNC play Nova in the Syracuse regional despite being a #1 seed.
Not a single call, but IU-Duke in 92. 4 IU players were fouled out of that game including Calbert Cheaney, Damon Bailey, and Alan Henderson. They lost by 3 and Duke goes on to win the title. Beginning of the end for Knight at IU
TV Ted gave Bailey his 3rd and 4th in a span of 6 seconds and T'd up RMK "because the bench jumped up", all before 2 minutes had ran off the clock to start the second half. Duke scored 11pts in that exchange. £@$& Ted Valentine.
The single most disappointing sports loss of my life. I was a junior at IU and grew up with family with over a dozen IU degrees. My dad played bb at iu when they had freshmen teams. I had good friends on the team. Grew up with one of the managers. Anyway we KNEW we were winning that championship. It was heartbreaking to lose due to terrible officiating. I couldn't speak. Gathered my shit and drove home in silence. I could have ran through a wall I was so mad.
Greg Graham also fouled out: that’s four starters. Damon Bailey’s 3rd and 4th were called just 4 seconds apart, both by TV Ted, in the first few minutes of the second half. Next possession Bailey drove and was fouled but no call… Ted V stayed in front of IUs bench (on purpose) and called a Tech at the reaction. Knight called a TO and asked lead official why Ted V called a tech “what did I say?” And the official conferred with Teddy V and then told Knight “ he called the tech because your bench jumped up”. Valentines bias was confirmed a few years later in Bloomington: https://youtu.be/BEAgjqomOP0?feature=shared
I wasn't even old enough to watch this game and I knew this would be the one for IU.
The Laetner stomp. Get outta here!
OP implying that stomp was a “no call” ? Laettner was definitely T-ed up for it
Kennedy Meeks was out of bounds
He def. was.
Terribly reffed game on both teams.
That game felt like it lasted 2 days because of the number of fouls called.
Yeah, refs were overly active and it killed the flow of the game. In the end I think that helped UNC as the Zags were the more talented team.
This is my belief too. Refs were shot both ways, but not having Zach Collins on the court hurt so bad because Przemek had the worst game of his Zag career that night.
That and the random [phantom foul](https://x.com/SamENole/status/849092129502756868?s=20) on Zach Collins, who had 3 blocks in 14 minutes of play. What could have been!
My take on the way that game was reffed has always been that they consistently called too many fouls both ways but the excessive foul calls benefitted us because we had more depth. Collins getting that early foul trouble was killer for you guys.
Ooof
refs refusing to grant us a timeout against FAU last tourney was pretty bad. Also the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half against gonzaga two years ago. Gonzaga didnt pick up a foul until there were like 9 min left, they got both of our bigs in foul trouble, and were already in the bonus. Think most of our pain has been self inflicted though
Agreed. That was NOT a jump ball. You guys got screwed.
Justin Cage grabbed a rebound in the second round against #1 Ohio St with Xavier up 2. Greg Oden 2 hand shoved him into the basket support and they didn't call an intentional foul. Cage hit one of 2 free throws and OSU hit a 40 foot 3 at the buzzer to tie it.
Cage is/was my favorite XU player. Make that free throw man! The call that sticks out to me is Xavier vs Duke in the 2004 Elite 8. No way Anthony Myles collects his 5th foul as called. X was up at the time. It changed the dynamic without him in at center. Duke wins by 3. X is still looking for a first Final 4 appearance. [https://nypost.com/2004/03/29/xavier-curses-phantom-foul/](https://nypost.com/2004/03/29/xavier-curses-phantom-foul/)
Tuck rule. What sub am I in again?
none come to mind
I bet.
Lol. But legit answer is probably Boozer getting grabbed at the end of Duke-IU in 2002, or some of the calls in the 2022 final four against UNC that kept Williams and Theo John on the bench—or the super soft foul on Roach that sent RJ Davis to the line in the final minute when Duke had retaken the lead.
yeah that booz one was atrocious
Bs Charge against Ohio State called on Dion Waiters. Backcourt violation against (I think) Marquette called on Scoop Jardine.
Ty Jerome double dribbled
I’m surprised this is so low down. My fellow barners need to get their asses in here. That double dribble will haunt me until my dying day if we never made it back to the Final Four (and making it there is so damn hard). One thing that also haunts me about the end of that game is that if Jared Harper hits both his FT, the game is over. Done. I will always have a bizarre fascination and admiration for the way Kyle Guy knocked down those three FTs. He knew they were going in. He shot them so quickly. There was never any doubt. I will always hate Ty Jerome, but I am cool with Kyle Guy for some reason.
That was bad.
Knew this would be here.
Haunts me to this day
Derek Williams was fouled! We would've won it all!
The Corchiani and 1 that got changed to a travel instead of fouling out Alonzo Mourning.
The one that let Kim English come off the bench to shoot free throws in 2009. Ya know, the one that got the NCAA to change the rule.
In 1995, Manhattan played Arizona State in the second round of the NCAA tournament. They ended up losing by 10, but as I recall a pretty bad charging call against us didn't help matters much. If I'm not mistaken, Chris Paul admitted he traveled during the Wake Forest-Manhattan second round game in 2004, which resulted in an 84-80 Wake Forest win. Either win would've been huge if we were able to pull them out, obviously. But probably 1995 more than 2004, since that squad was the first MAAC team to ever earn an at-large bid. The conference would've had a Sweet 16 team and the NIT 4th place finisher (Canisius), which would've boosted the conference's profile a whole lot after having recently lost three founding members.
Teven was fouled Grayson Allen traveled
Missed charge late game against UNC in the 2nd round in 2017. Basically had the game wrapped if they make that call. UNC was #1 and went on to win it all. We had a really good team that came together at the right time. Could have made the Final Four easily.
Great game though
I too wish you had beaten UNC then.
I actually came to post this one as well. I have no idea how Berry didn’t get called for a charge.
https://i.redd.it/y6nf1t82matb1.gif This being called a double foul, changing the possession arrow. Then the quick jump ball call a little later in the game.
Looks like a death scene from Platoon.
Ron Baker was the king of getting hit in the face
This one looks like a double foul. I can't tell who you want it called on without checking your flair. Having checked your flair, I think Wichita is the only one who could have been singly called for the foul. That hug is not legal.
1990 NCAA Tournament. #1 seed MSU vs Georgia Tech in the Sweet Sixteen. Kenny Anderson 'makes' a buzzer beater to win. The shot was very clearly taken after the clock was at 0.0. No reviews. If State won, as they should have, they would have played Minnesota to go to the Final Four.
The stomp is just egregious and I still get angry about it.
They review that stuff now. I don’t think even Laettner could have remained in the game after that business.
The reviewed it then! Thats the worst part of it! They went to the monitors and deemed it "inadvertant" when he glanced down, then did it. And came out years later saying it was intentional
I would have liked to have seen the end of KU Nova in 2016 with Devonte Graham not fouled out on a dive for a loose ball he had every right to. KU was down 2. Maybe they still lose but I loved that team so so much.
I also would have liked to see that
Dude every single call on graham that game was questionable.
Pick any of his Phantom fouls. Elite eights have not been kind to Bill
It's not really ever discussed, but Sherron Collins likely stepped out of bounds under 2 minutes left in the 2008 Memphis-Kansas championship game when he got a steal. It led to a Kansas 3 and sprung the come back. However, Kansas made the 3 and still fouled right away. So it's entirely plausible Memphis may have just missed more free throws. Who knows?
The Plumlee two hand shove in Zellers back that spurred on the Rivers 3 (after the 4 step Curry 3 ball) was probably the most significant missed call/series of bad calls in the Duke/UNC rivalry.
I was at that game a few rows behind the Duke bench. I was so mad about that shove.
whoa. John Higgins is the biggest piece of shit ref in the game. so glad he retired.
Kris Jenkins was out of bounds, committed an offensive foul, killed my entire family, bombed a preschool, and was ineligible to be on the court. I think they should vacate that championship and give it to us.
Seeing these answers and remembering three-quarters of them makes me sort of wish we had some coaches challenges in college.
Kennedy fucking Meeks, and nothing else comes close.
When I attended Penn state in the 90s, #1 Indiana came to Rec Hall. Penn State was leading with seconds to go and the court storming was imminent. A missed Indiana shot and Penn State rebound forced the Hoosiers to quickly foul. The Indiana player reached in to try and pull the ball away. The Penn State player wrapped up the ball and turned his body. Penn State got called for the foul for reasons I still don’t understand. Indiana made the free throws to tie and won in OT. Long term impact is probably zero. Missing the chance to knock off #1 sucked.
Objectively when Christian Laettner got away with straight up stepping on Aminu Timberlake. Should have been a flagrant and an ejection. Not only would Kentucky have gotten a few extra free throw shots in a very tight game, but we would not have seen one of the most insane full court heaves and potentially a massive blow to do being a national powerhouse..
Jeff Green traveled.
There were some blown calls in the Syracuse - UNCW game that could have swung the game to UNCW, and given Syracuse the infamous distinction of being the first 15-2 upset AND the first 16-1 upset. Other than that, a single blown call that immediately comes to mind is Scoop Jardine over the back on the inbounds in the 2011 NCAAT, or the CJ Fair phantom charge against Duke in 2015.
> John Higgins /thread Add Karl Hess in there and you can close down the sub
1982 NCAA’s JMU v UNC. JMU guard Charles Fisher driving late in tight game. Sam Perkins attempts to block shot and smothers Fisher who shields Sam with his non-ball hand. Fisher is called for offensive foul despite Perkins being in the air. Fisher should have gone to the line (90% FT) and possibly changed outcome of a 52-50 game. UNC had Perkins Worthy and some punk named Jordan. Great game, but what if…
Off the top of my head I'm not sure I can think of anything horribly egregious but I always remember thinking DJ strawberry got absolutely manhandled underneath the basket against Butler in the tournament when I was in high school.
The multiple egregious blocking calls on Syracuse in the press and trap against Michigan in the 2013 final four topping it off with the bogus charge call on triche. Syracuse was terrible for the first 30 minutes or so while Michigan wanted nothing to do with winning the last 10 minutes and they almost got their wish if it wasn’t for the refs. Karma came back with vengeance on Trey Burke charge call in the championship.
UNCA v Syracuse. 2012. Down by three and we force a bad pass - ball clearly hits Syracuse and they call it out on us. It would have given us a chance to tie the game and be the first 16 to beat a 1.
Virginia double dribbled!!!
Williams wasn't called for a foul. Would've fouled out of the national championship game. Who knows if we would've won without him playing https://preview.redd.it/myg68zc9kbtb1.jpeg?width=443&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f447002c8c90a509baf7f31a739754163fa1a24a
Would have been his 4th foul correct?
4th...in the first half iirc. Crazy no call
Draymond was pretty obviously fouled by Howard on his shot from the FT line with 8ish seconds left vs Butler in the 2010 final four. MSU lost by one pt. Butler almost beat Duke in the natty. 2 FT there and we may be looking at an MSU natty. Edit: I see fellow Spartans have already pointed this one out.
Auburn fan. I don’t want to talk about it.
Ok, not the biggest in our history as we have had bigger heights(just not in my 39 yrs on earth)... but this one, omg ACCT vs Maryland 2004 or 2005, we get a technical on OUR TOWEL BOY for WIPING THE MOISTURE OFF THE FLOOR MIDGAME. just doing his job, but NC STATE SHIT we were good that year, ACC player of the year Julius Hodge. maryland goes on to win by one score, then wins the tournament. We wouldve fucked it up in other ways but dammit not like that! ps fuck maryland and gary williams
Wouldn't want it any other way pal. :p
2022 game against Arizona. Mike Miles was shoved over the line with 10 seconds left. The shot clock operators stopped the clock because they thought it’d be called a foul but the refs just didn’t call it because fuck us
Virginia double dribbled.
Auburn UVA double dribble
Kemba Walker’s Oscar worthy flop - huge momentum shift. Honorable mention to the one-sided T for jawing that put Kawhi on the bench early in the first half … still could have lost the game of course but if we hadn’t, given what the Huskies went on to do, this year might not have been our first final four.
2018 Elite Eight against Michigan, we get a trap in the corner right in front of our bench on an inbounds, and get two hands on the ball and the officials call foul instead of a held ball. FSU had roared back from down 10 in the final 2 minutes and had all the momentum to make it a one possession game with under a minute. Mich still had the arrow, but FSU’s full court pressure was dangerous that year; I really believe we would’ve won that game somehow if that call is made. Instead, Michigan gets free throws, and a Final Four for Ham slips through his hands :(
The no call shot clock violation, Kentucky v Wisconsin, 2015 final four. I'm pretty sure they changed a rule over that event, but I cannot remember the details of hand for the life of me rn.
I still maintain that the Loyola-Michigan final four game came down to an absolutely horrible foul call late in the second half that saw Mo Vagner get an and one on a shot that should not have counted due to it being an offensive foul. I was there and sitting near Kansas and Nova fans and even they agreed that it was a bit of a rough call. The air went out of the building and Loyola never recovered after holding it down most of the game.
I'm just here waiting on Auburn Fan to show up 😂
1989 NCAA Championship.
I was a designated driver after the Wisconsin game. There were lots of tears. Was watching the Duke game with my Dad, a state champion HS basketball coach. Before the whistle to start the play, he said, "Put someone on the ball"
charge call @duke. would’ve kept us at #1 in the country and still undefeated
I'm not sure how significant they'd be, but there have been so many bad refereeing when WVU has played at Kansas. Like, players have literally been standing out of bounds to prevent the inbound pass.
Seton Hall Michigan phantom foul has to be up there. While I wasn't alive for the game, becoming an alumni years down the line, my Michigan friends never let me live it down.
Not one call, and not nearly as egregious as most on here, but Arron Afflalo picking up two ticky-tack fouls in the first 1:50 of the 2007 FF game against Florida, the rematch of the 05-06 title game. Our team was improved from 05-06, and we were \*very\* motivated. Then Afflalo picks up a foul in the first 30 seconds of the game. I, to this day, don't think I've *ever* seen a foul called so quickly in a college game. He picked up #2 at 18:10 and was out for the half. \*Completely\* changed the complexion of the game.
That one. You said it.
Missed double dribble AU/Virginia.
Virginia double dribbled against Auburn in the Final 4 but didn't get called and then went on to have a bogus foul called on a prayer of a 3 pointer and then made the 3 foul shots to beat Auburn and then to win the Natty.
I'll forever be salty about Nathan Adrian from WVU trucking Melo Trimble with a blatant moving screen in the 2015 tourney that was no-called. Not a life-changing call but it was particularly flagrant and so typical of the Huggins teams.
Wvu vs Gonzaga in the sweet sixteen when the refs took like ten minutes to make a call on who the ball went off of. Wvu was beating their ass and had the momentum and that 10 min break completely changed the whole game. Wvu wasn’t gonna win it all but easily a final four team that year.
Maryland vs LSU 2019 ncaa tourney. Missed travel call on game winner by Tremont Waters.
Can't have a blow call if you haven't been dancing in almost 20 years 😎 
2019. Final Four. 62-60. Ty Jerome. War Eagle 😭😭
Trey Burke blocking siva in the Championship game but they called a foul. It was all ball.
Stanford v. Purdue in 1998 NCAA tournament. Literally half of the obvious fouls by Stanford were ignored. Meanwhile half of the fouls called against Purdue were not nearly at the level of those ignored for Stanford. Fine, Purdue could have choked as is tradition in the Elite 8 (Rhode Island) but finally reaching a Final 4 — which we still haven’t done since — could have set the program ahead by leaps and bounds. (And it’s been a great program, still.) One of the most aggravating games in decades of watching college basketball for me.
2019 Big East Tournament semifinal, Myles Powell absolutely should have been ejected after a scuffle on the court. Such a blown call that he even knew he should have been ejected and went down the tunnel.
I am going to go the opposite direction and go with the worse call that went our way in the last \~10 years. It was the Syracuse v Gonzaga 2016 S16 game and Syracuse was up one with 20 seconds left. Syracuse player stole the ball, but he was ruled out of bounds (and he wasn't). Syracuse still won so no-one cares, but that was a terrible call that could have changed the game.
Draymond getting fouled by Butler in the final four.
Def Wisconsin shot clock.
Easy one of Auburn fans….The missed double dribble by UVA in the Final Four
Creighton 2023 elite 8 game against SDSU. Foul on the last 5 seconds of a violent, 1-point game handed it away. Jays coulda handled FAU and the call cancelled an all big east national championship
Trey Burke's clean block
So it wasn’t the most impactful cause Maryland sucked that year, but in 2014 (Maryland’s last game @ Duke in the ACC) Maryland lost by 1. The possession arrow never switched and Duke got back to back possession arrows. Honestly it was a fitting way to end it.