UNC Basketball: NCAA does NOTHING about UNC/Baylor referees

The NCAA has come to a decision about the referees from the Tar Heels’ controversial game against the Baylor Bears in the Round of 32, and UNC basketball fans won’t be happy about it.

The North Carolina Tar Heels prevailed against the top-seeded Baylor Bears on Saturday in the most controversial game of the 2022 NCAA Tournament — which is saying a lot — but not before a frenetic comeback that saw a 25-point second-half margin turn into a tie game in the span of just 10 minutes.

It honestly doesn’t even sound realistic when you read the words on paper or say them aloud, and quite honestly, it shouldn’t. Shortly after the Tar Heels took a 67-42 lead midway through the second half, North Carolina’s Brady Manek was ejected from the game following a questionable flagrant 2 call.

That’s when Baylor went on a 38-13 run to close out regulation with the score tied at 80, which sent the game into overtime. During that stretch, nearly every 50/50 call went Baylor’s way and the Tar Heels were whistled for 13-of-14 fouls during the improbable comeback. If the numbers don’t make the Bears’ comeback seem unrealistic enough, the fact that Baylor was called for a foul just once during that stretch while playing some of the roughest, most tenacious full-court defense we’ve ever seen certainly should.

North Carolina fans were understandably upset during and after the game, and even now, three days later. Many of them expected the NCAA to review the game and hit the responsible crew of referees with a suspension or punishment of some sort.

But according to an announcement from the NCAA on Tuesday, no such thing will happen. In fact, two of the three referees from that game will be working the next round of the tournament, and one of them, Brent Hampton, will be in Philadelphia for the Tar Heels’ Sweet 16 game against the UCLA Bruins.

So, as upset as UNC fans were about the poor officiating during the game, they may be even more enraged about this. I can’t blame them. I’m upset, too. And it’s not just UNC fans that should be upset, but college basketball fans in general, given that we’ve seen a number of bad calls across the board in this year’s tournament.

Something should be done about it, but apparently, that’s just not going to happen. In the meantime, we’ll continue to watch the integrity of the world’s greatest tournament be damaged on a near game-by-game basis.

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