Some of you may be aware of this already from last Tuesday. I still have some catching up to do. ;)



Sun Belt to use Instant Replay in '06
Courtesy: Sun Belt Conference

NEW ORLEANS – The Sun Belt Conference announced today that it will use instant replay for all of its conference and non-conference football games in 2006. The conference used instant replay on a trial basis for information gathering purposes only for three games at both Louisiana-Lafayette and North Texas in 2005.


?We feel the use of instant replay for all of our football games is certainly a positive development,? Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Wright Waters said.


?I am very excited about the Sun Belt Conference instituting instant replay after using it on an experimental basis at some games last year,? Arkansas State Head Coach Steve Roberts said. ?The bottom line for all people involved in our conference, the players, coaches and officials, is to get it right. I am confident through the leadership of Don Lucas (Sun Belt Conference Supervisor of Officials) and the Sun Belt Conference this will be handled in a first-class manner.?

The NCAA Football Rules Committee approved the use of instant replay at its recent February 6-8 meeting. After allowing instant replay to review a game official's call on the field for two seasons on an experimental basis, the committee approved one procedure for all institutions and conferences that choose to use it. The procedure, which was used by the majority of Division I-A conferences last season, calls for the replay official in the press box to review all plays on the field and stop the game. The official may only stop play if the play is in the list of reviewable plays and has a direct, competitive impact on the game.

The committee also decided to allow each team one challenge during the course of the game. The head coach may request a review by signaling for a timeout. If the challenge overturns the call on the field, the coach retains the right to challenge later in the game and is not charged a timeout. If the call on the field is not reversed in the challenge, the team is charged a timeout and the coach does not have the ability to challenge again in the game.

Additionally, a visiting non-conference institution is not able to opt out of using replay if the host institution chooses to implement the system.

I just hope that we're not the "training ground" for the refs who has bigger goals of moving onto another conference.

..and keep the crew who did the Steerlers/Colts and Steelers/Seahawks outta here!