The Big Ten has spoken. That doesn't mean college football fans are suddenly satisfied with one of the most bizarre endings you'll ever see.
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Michigan escaped with a 13-12 victory over Western Michigan after officials put one second back on the clock following what appeared to everyone watching NBC to be the final play of the game.
Western Michigan was already celebrating.
Instead, Michigan got another snap. Quarterback Bryce Underwood launched a 47-yard Hail Mary that JJ Buchanan caught for the game-winning touchdown.
The Big Ten has since reviewed the controversial sequence and says officials got it right.
According to the conference, Western Michigan safety Micah Davis jumped from an established out-of-bounds position and touched Michigan's initial Hail Mary with one second remaining.
Under NCAA rules, the ball became dead immediately when Davis touched it from out of bounds, stopping the clock.
Here's where things get messy. NBC's broadcast clock showed 0:00.
The Big Ten says replay officials weren't relying on that clock. They used a synchronized camera showing the physical stadium clock, which showed 0:01 when Davis touched the ball. The conference said its replay cameras are synchronized before games using a strobe system.
Fine. That's the explanation. But if millions of people watching a football game see the clock hit zero and one team celebrating because the game is over, only to learn that an entirely different clock says otherwise, college football has a pretty significant problem.
NBC rules analyst Terry McAulay has also pointed to the "known discrepancy" between the broadcast clock and the timing information used by replay officials. Fans and media members have continued questioning the finish despite the Big Ten's explanation.
Western Michigan has decided to move on, with coach Lance Taylor saying officials ultimately didn't cost his team the game. That's admirable.
The rest of us are still allowed to say the whole thing looked like a complete farce.
