Whistle blowing

Is it just me, or were there too many fouls in the Ohio State - Tennessee game last night? It's one thing to call fouls when they definitely occur. But last night I had to strain at half the replays to see where any contact even occurred. Most of the fouls seemed to be coming at the Buckeyes' end of the floor, but there were definitely some phantom calls down the stretch in the Volunteers' favor as well.

I didn't tune in until Tennessee was up twenty in the dwindling moments of the first half, but I immediately questioned the foul that ended the half and resulted in a three-point play for Ohio State. And with the second half came more and more of this. The telecast remarked at one point that Ohio State had scored on eleven of twelve possessions. But how many of those were free throws?

It's nice to see a nail-biter come down to a final play—and a blocked shot to boot—with a one-point margin of victory. But it's not so nice that that one point was gained on a free throw because of a foul called in the lane with under ten seconds on the game clock.

Because of horrible "foul management" by the officials (by this I mean calling too many fouls early in the half), situations that would normally lead to possession on the side resulted in free throws instead, including a couple for Ohio State after a marginal call at the other end of the floor. (Unfortunately, I can't remember the details of the play.) The bonus is the bonus, but some things just should not lead to free throws. But that's a whole other conversation.