No T's with the game on the line

On New Years Eve, Oregon got a belated christmas present.

At the end of overtime against Washington State, DeAngelo Casto scored on a lay-up that gave the Cougars an 80-78 lead with 0.3 seconds left. As expected, the Wazzu bench exploded, elated that they took the lead late in their Pac-10 opener.

But according to the officials, the Cougars celebrated a little to much. They assessed a technical foul on the the Washington State bench, and TaJuan Porter hit two free throws that tied the game and forced a second OT. (To make matters worse, Oregon scored a lay-up with under second left during the second overtime, and did not receive a technical when their players spilled onto the court.)

This isn't the first time that a technical foul has determined the outcome of a game.

On December 12th at the Patriot Center, George Mason was trailing Creighton by two with under 30 seconds left. Cam Long drove to the basket, and Creighton's Justin Carter slid over to try and take a charge.

Creighton coach Dana Altman thought he did.

The refs disagreed.

Altman reacted as coaches do - waving his arms, screaming, yelling - and was given a technical. Luke Hancock hit two free throws to tie the game, and Long hit 1-2, which all but gave the Patriots the win.

Now, I don't necessarily believe that refs should swallow their whistles in the last minute of a close game. If its a foul, its a foul, and it should be called that way. Giving a player two shots when he draws a foul is part of "letting the player's decide the game."

But calling a technical in the final seconds?

As Mike DeCourcy points out, the technical foul in basketball is the only rule in our four major team sports that essentially allows a referee to put points on the board for one team. That is a lot of power for a referee to have, seeing as he can directly influence the outcome of a close game.

This is college basketball. Kids play hard and emotional, and their reactions during hard-fought, close games, especially those against conference rivals, are going to show that. Coaches are the same way. They put everything they have into preparing their teams to play a game, and have a great deal on the line if they should happen to lose.

Unless a coach punches a ref, or the bench begins celebrating by popping champagne bottles and spraying foam across the court, I personally don't believe that refs should be handing out technicals that will affect the outcome of a game so directly.