The NCAA Should be Ashamed

Kansas State and Syracuse met today in the inaugural Pinstripe Bowl, which was solely created to provide New Yankee Stadium an additional revenue stream (just another reason why these bowls are pointless, and why I hate the Yankees). For 58 minutes and 30 seconds, it was a wildly entertaining shootout and provided the perfect distraction from what was otherwise an incredibly boring day. But the last minute and 30 seconds were, to put it lightly, controversial. Let me walk you through it:

With 3:07 left on the clock, Syracuse kicked a 39 yard field goal to put them on top of Kansas State 36-28. This gave the Wildcats essentially one possession to drive the length of the field, complete a successful 2 point conversion, and send the game to overtime. On their first set of downs, K-State faced a potential game ending 4th and 2, but quarterback Carson Coffman (who played a great, great game) completed a 9 yard pass to keep the drive alive. 2 plays later, the score still obviously 36-28, Coffman threw a bubble screen - which I've long stated is my favorite play in football - to receiver Adrian Hillburn. Hillburn evaded the first would be tackler, and took the pass 30 yards to the endzone. Unbelievable! Kansas State got the touchdown they needed and were a 2 point conversion away from a tying the game! Not so fast though. The officials flagged Hillburn for excessive celebration, meaning instead of attempting the 2 point conversion from the 2 yard line - which is essentially a 50/50 success rate - they were backed all the way up the 18 yard line - significantly decreasing their conversion percentage. Was the penalty justified? You be the judge.



In my HUMBLE opinion, GOOD GOD NO! All he did was salute the crowd! That's it! No chest bumping, no showboating, no taking off his helmet, no preening for the camera...nothing! The ref put himself above the two teams on the field and essentially decided the game on his own terms. He was fully aware of the situation at hand and could have held that flag in his pocket just a second longer to think, "Is this 100% worth it?" It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the answer to that question is a resounding NO!

If you watched the game, these were two evenly matched teams and they deserved an overtime (who knows how long this game could have gone on. Neither defense could get a stop to save their lives). The Kansas State players were robbed. The fans who paid good money to see this game were robbed. The people who spent 3 hours watching two irrelevant 7-5 teams were robbed. This is completely contrary to the spirit of college football, and the NCAA needs to spend this offseason reassessing their "excessive celebration" policy. Just imagine if this happened on a larger stage. Oh let's say the BCS National Title Game. There would be a national meltdown the likes of which we haven't seen for some time. Just because this was the Pinstripe Bowl does not mean it should go unnoticed.

Just the hypocrisy of the NCAA rearing its ugly head once again...