Mountain West almost admits error in ending of Boise State, Colorado State game

After going all in not once, but twice, the Mountain West finally admitted that there was issues with the way they replayed the final shot by Boise State's James Webb III.

Even after sending out a video with an embedded clock on the video there were still a lot of questions about the final shot, and more errors on the process.

The conference spent time to send out a third release that finally admits that there was an issue and that the shot should have counted, but not before a lengthy excuse explanation of what happened through this process that has taken far too long to resolve.

Here is the press release (bolded emphasis is mine):

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - After further extensive analysis in conjunction with DVSport over the past 24 hours, the Mountain West has determined there was in fact a confirmed discrepancy between the rate at which the embedded digital stopwatch advanced and the rate at which the game clock regressed during the instant replay review.

The game officials correctly administered the play and, based upon the available video evidence and timing data at their disposal, made the correct decision to disallow the basket. However, they were unknowingly viewing video not delivered at full speed from the production truck.

While some potential latency in the game clock speed vs. the embedded digital stopwatch feed was identified during the initial review process, the Mountain West was assured by DVSport that the stopwatch in the replay system was synchronized with the video and that the elapsed time of 1.2 to 1.3 seconds was accurate.

Subsequent to yesterday's announcement, the Mountain West and DVSport continued to investigate in the interest of further clarity - including removal of the high resolution video file from the instant replay system and its shipment to DVSport headquarters for further analysis.

Multiple live and replay video angles captured by the replay systems were analyzed, and the replay angle used by the officials was re-enacted in comparison. The embedded stopwatch and game clock were compared on each of the video angles. Hand-timing was utilized earlier today to re-confirm timing outcomes.

The continued investigation has now concluded the one replay angle from the Opposite Baseline Camera that was utilized by the game officials was playing at just under full speed when aired by television and subsequently ingested by the replay system. Thus, the embedded stopwatch outpaced the video and led to a false reading.

Additional tests were conducted setting the digital DVSport Stopwatch to the live version of the Opposite Baseline Camera, and those tests showed the DVSport Stopwatch to be accurate and counting down at the same rate as the game clock above the basket.

It had also been theorized the DVSport Stopwatch was faster than the game clock in the review clip released yesterday because DVSport was capturing video at 30 frames per second when the TV broadcast was sending a 60 frame per second signal. That theory is not correct. The DVSport system adjusts automatically to capture the video at whatever frame rate the video signal is broadcast.

Finally, the additional analysis also re-measured the timing of the release of the shot by the Boise State player. The outcome of this subsequent review determined the Boise State player most likely released the shot just prior to the 0.8 second threshold and thus the shot should have counted.

NCAA Men's Basketball Playing Rule 5, Section 5 does not allow a protest to be filed or the result of the game to be overturned.

On a related note, this investigation has discovered a gap in national instant replay protocol which DVSport will be addressing immediately. A new policy will be established with all conferences using DVSport Replay to ensure the DVSport Stopwatch is utilized only on video angles captured live. The video of the Boise State-Colorado State play will be utilized as a teaching tool for all game officials, replay technicians, and television providers to avoid similar pitfalls in the future.

The conference does not even fully admit to the error as they say "the Boise State player most likely released the shot just prior to the 0.8 second threshold and thus the shot should have counted."

Just say you screwed up and move on. NCAA rules prevent a protest after the game so why not say it was wrong and the shot should have counted. There is plenty of evidence out there saying that the shot should have counted.

Overall, this was handled very poorly and it should never have come down to three statements, a video release and then finally saying this ending will be used as an example.

We could go through the various quotes within the release and debunk, but why not go with this simple explanation.

"You cheated us"

"Nope. Our officials are great!"

"No they aren't"

"See video!!!"

"We did, you dumba$$"

"ohh....."

"Sorry"

— Jeremy Rodrigues (@RivalsJeremy) February 13, 2016