They are the best of the best. They are the top of their profession. They are the referees in the NCAA Tournament.
Most of the time they make the right call. Little do some know, they work just as hard as the players, if not harder, to get where they are.
To become an official in the NCAA Tournament is no walk in the park. According to Dave Hall, NCAA Tournament official who worked the championship game in 2000 when Michigan State beat Florida, an official must first be a Division 1A basketball official, and be recognized by evaluators who must give you excellent marks.
These evaluators then turn a list of candidates into a committee of official evaluators in the NCAA. From that list, the committee chooses 96 officials to referee the first round of the tournament.
If you are one of those 96, that means you are assured one game. In that game, you receive a heavy evaluation with at least two evaluators and one NCAA committee member.
If you score high enough in the game which you just reffed, you are recommended by the NCAA committee to its chair, who determines whether you go on to more rounds or if your season is over.
That can create some tension between officials themselves.
“We’re getting evaluated just like the teams are,” said Scott Thornley, another NCAA Tournament official who has worked three championship games, most recently last year’s Duke-Arizona game. “You want to try and go as far as you can.”
Egos can get in the way of the continuity of calls and hurt the flow of the game.
“That will screw up a game,” Thornley said. “It’s not everybody, but there are some guys that try to make sure people notice them a little more than the other officials. That doesn’t happen in the regular season.”
Once in the tourney, the pressure is so high to do a good job, many times the officials forget to take a moment to actually enjoy it.
“It’s not just another game. You know you’re in the NCAA Tournament,” Hall said.
“There’s a lot more pressure and everybody’s more critical of errors that are made,” Thornley said. “It’s exciting in a way, but you don’t ever get to enjoy it, because there’s so much mental pressure.”
Hall recounted a moment in the championship game he worked in 2000, when with four minutes left in the game and the outcome pretty much decided, he looked around and said, “Man, this is an unbelievable experience. That’s a pretty cool feeling.”
The demeanor of the players actually doesn’t change much from regular season to tourney play.
“The kids are real competitive. They’re not any more competitive in the tournament than in the regular season,” Thornley said.
Coaches do have a little change in behavior from regular season play.
“I think they mind their Is and Qs a little more,” Hall said. “They’ve got [NCAA reps] sitting all around and they don’t want to do anything to embarrass their university.”
The biggest difference between tournament play and regular season play is how strict the games seem to be.
“The NCAA does a great job of making it come off at certain times,” Hall said. “There’s no leeway for casual demeanor in anybody. It’s really strict and precise, down to the minute.”
Hall compared it to a militaristic way of running things.
Another difference is the neutral courts the teams play on. There are not as many fans to breathe down an official’s neck, and many who come to tournament games are there just to watch the game and not to cheer for any specific team. Hall did say more fans were following their teams to different cities this year than in years past.
The average day of an official in the tournament can be boring. The NCAA requires officials to be in town the day before, and there is a lot of time spent waiting for the game to start.
But there is absolutely no mingling with players or coaches. Barriers are placed and different entrances to arenas are used for different teams and officials.
“You don’t see players or coaches, ever,” Hall said.
After that, getting from the first round down to the Final Four is even tougher than getting into the tournament.
From the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight, the field of officials is cut from 36 to nine. Those nine referee the Final Four.
“That’s where the tough cut is, because, in theory, those are the 36 best officials in the country,” Hall said.
To make it to the Final Four, and even the championship game, is the cream of the crop for an NCAA official.
“For that moment in time, they consider you the very best,” Hall said. “[It feels like] you made it to the top of the mountain.”
Through all this, there is another problem officials must be aware of, especially in the NCAA Tournament. That is pressure from gamblers to throw games.
Although no official has ever been found guilty of accepting a bribe, the NCAA has taken precautions to make sure the gamblers stay away from the officials.
Both Hall and Thornley both said neither they, nor anyone they know, has ever been approached by anyone attempting to bribe or sway their game.
Officials are required to sign a contract saying neither they, nor any immediate family member, has been involved in sports gambling. The NCAA also requires officials to view a video on how to avoid the bookies.
The NCAA actually has a full-time employee who works on keeping gamblers away.
“It’s not just Las Vegas,” Hall said. “Kids in dorms have big betting operations. I think it’s very prevalent.”
But all the problems aside, the officials in the NCAA Tournament give the players and teams a great game. They are the best basketball officials refereeing the best basketball games in the country.
“We’re pretty good,” Thornley said. “We get most of the calls right. We get a heck of a lot more right than people think we do.”