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Originally Posted by rebelknight
Congrats to all the schools locking up auto bids. I feel a little bad for Rutgers. Don't know if an extra possession or win would have done anything for them but it doesn't change that the refs potentially changed the outcome of that game at least 3 times down the stretch. Also in the big east, USF is playing well(ish) in the first half and keeping it close enough but I don't expect a repeat of last night. I see Cinci holding on to this one and probably stretching the lead out even more by the end.
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Coach Mike Rice took the high road for his Scarlet Knights and refused to criticise the refs, which shows he has some class. Good for him. And unlike the newspapermen, who jumped all over the zebras in the initial rush to judgement, the local radio guys have had a night to sleep on it, and are a bit more reflective. Sure, they say, the officiating was terrible, with a number of calls going against Rutgers, and not just those in the last few seconds. But still, they contend they did not so much steal the game for St. John's as they deprived RU a shot at getting a tie, or maybe a win . . . which the Knights may or may not have been able to do. Yes, the guy travelled with no whistle blown, but that happens often. Yes, throwing the ball into the stands WOULD have constituted a technical foul, IF they had blown the whistle and the clock was stopped, but not so since the clock was running. The one thing they had a problem with was stepping out of bounds, which they say was plain as day and a call no good ref should have missed. And the radio jocks make the point that, because no whistle was blown, and because the clock never stopped, these plays were, BY RULE, not reviewable. So, the refs did a bad job, no doubt, but they did not outright rob Rutgers.
And yes, the Bearcats ended up clawing the Bulls. Now let's see what they can do with the Irish.
A brief and rushed update to follow.