Time is flying this season!  Conference play has started and we have begun the “season within a season.”  I am often asked, “Why do referees call conference play so differently than the non-conference games?”  Actually, we don’t call them any differently although there are several reasons why it appears that we do.

First, every season begins with us attending an NCAA-certified clinic.  (If you want to officiate in the NCAA tournament, you must attend one of these clinics and agree to participate in a background check if you are selected.)  At these clinics, we are given “Points of Emphasis.”  I reviewed these for this year in an earlier article but they largely have to do with things such as rough post play, displacement, and palming the ball.  So we start out the year calling these points of emphasis very diligently and then in midseason, coaches will claim that we are not calling them as we did to start the season.  One of my arguments against this, believe it or not, is that teams have actually responded to what we have been calling and have reduced their transgressions.  For instance, I called far fewer hand checking fouls in my game last night than I did during my first week of the season.  It wasn’t because I just decided to stop calling them - it was simply because the teams have adjusted and are not committing those types of fouls as frequently.

Another interesting theory is that the level of play intensifies during the conference games.  I certainly understand this.  There are bragging rights, recruiting battles, and tournament bids to be won.  As a referee, many conference games just have a different feel to them, as if the stakes have been raised somehow.  If you don’t believe me, just go to any one of the season ending conference tournaments that happen just prior to March Madness.  Those will be some of the hardest fought and intense competitions that you will see.  It is a great atmosphere to have all the teams from a single conference in the same building going at it.  These different types of games that conference play brings can also lead to the perception that we are calling the game differently somehow.

The last reason that our calls may appear different later in the season has to do with what I call “The February Effect.”  However, since it is still January, we’ll save that topic for next month.  Until then, we’ll see you on the hardwood.