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Big 12 officials screw Baylor out of NCAA Tournament hopes.

With one of the worst calls in the history of the conference, the Big 12's stellar officiating crew screwed Baylor so violently in the closing seconds of what should have been a monumental comeback that the Earth actually came off its axis.

By Mark C. Moore
USA TODAY Sports

I had a much longer post written up for this game that I actually started putting together at halftime, but that's out the window now. Yes, it's Baylor's fault that we got down 18 at halftime. Yes, it's Baylor's fault that we didn't play better before the final minutes. But none of that matters when one call so clearly changes everything. The preceding 39 minutes don't matter to that call. What matters is that call was wrong, obviously wrong, and never should have been made. Even if you think there was contact-- and there wasn't with anything not made of leather-- you absolutely do not make that call. You don't decide the game at the line. You don't bail one team out.

You will rue this day, Big 12. The ridiculous apology we all know will come cannot change history. You screwed Baylor out of this game, and we will not forget. Pierre Jackson deserved better. Rico Gathers deserved better. A.J. Walton and Gary Franklin deserved better. Deuce Bello, who touched nothing but ball on the final, fateful drive by Phil Forte, deserved better. Your fans deserve better.

For the record, since I see a lot of people asking, it wasn't Huggins. It was the ref on the sideline 20+ feet away who couldn't actually see the ball or the contact. Huggins should have overruled him, since he was under the goal and had an unobstructed view, but it wasn't Huggins.

The play, start to finish:

If you want to view it in HD or a larger size, click here.

*I'm being told the officials used in Big 12 Conference games are independent contractors, not direct employees of the Conference itself. That distinction is irrelevant to me; they are agents of the Conference regardless.

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