After a unanimous vote by Big Ten football coaches in January favoring the use of instant replay for league games, the NCAA Football Rules Committee also approved the measure yesterday.
The committee recommended that the conference proceed with its plan to have replay used in officiating for the 2004 season.
Now, only the approval of the Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet and the conference's athletic directors stands between Big Ten football and instant replay officiating for this upcoming season.
If approved, the Big Ten would be the first NCAA football conference to implement such a system.
The early consensus among the athletic directors indicates they would approve a replay system. Six of the league's 11 athletic directors were reached for comment, and five said they supported the use of replay to avoid officiating mistakes.
"If you can look at a play and get it back down to the field quickly and get it right, why wouldn't you?" Wisconsin Athletic Director Pat Richter said. "These games are too important to have mistakes. One play could decide a national championship."
Along with Richter, Athletic Directors Joel Maturi (Minnesota), Ron Mason (Michigan State), Tim Curley (Penn State) and Morgan Burke (Purdue) all said they would approve the use of instant replay, provided it is done in a way that does not interrupt the flow of the games too abruptly.
"We don't want an NFL-type of replay," Curley said
And it appears the athletic directors won't have to worry about a system anywhere close to the one used by the NFL. A press release sent out by the NCAA yesterday described the plan formulated by the rules committee, and it bears little resemblance to the one used in professional football.
This fall, a "technical adviser" will be assigned to each game by the Big Ten's officiating department, and he or she will be the "sole person able to trigger the use of video replay and render a decision on the reviewed plays," the press release indicated.
In the NFL, head coaches, who are allowed to "challenge" referees' calls, primarily initiate replays. The official then reviews the play on the sideline via a video monitor.
This will not be the case in the Big Ten's model. The technical adviser will be the only person responsible for initiating a review and overturning a call.
The Big Ten will use the video equipment provided by its television partners -- ABC and ESPN -- to view the replays, the release stated.
Television being used as the infrastructure for replay officiating could be the one sticking point if the athletic directors vote on instant replay later this month.
Bruce Madej, Michigan's sports information director, who said he was speaking on behalf of Michigan Athletic Director William C. Martin, indicated he is still skeptical about the Big Ten using replay.
"The issue we are concerned about is how it can be implemented consistently for every game," Madej said.
If television were used, as it is now expected to be, there would be a lack of consistency because, though every Big Ten conference game is televised, not all of the telecasts use the same number of cameras. Games on ABC would allow the technical advisers to use far more camera angles when reviewing than they could use during an ESPN regional game.
"Even if it isn't consistent, even if you had less cameras for some games than others, I think any time you can correct the obvious human error of an official who means well, we should do it," Maturi said.
The experimental replay system will be used in every Big Ten conference game this fall, and non-conference opponents playing televised games in Big Ten stadiums will have the option to compete with the replay system in place, the release stated.
According to the release, the Division I Championship/Competition Cabinet will act on the rules committee's recommendation of using replay "at a date to be determined."
Big Ten spokeswoman Sue Lister said the conference would not comment on instant replay until it is approved by the Cabinet.
