In a move being called a substantial step toward transparency, the Big Ten Conference announced that all football broadcasts from Big Ten venues that include Big Ten replay will feature live audio between the game referee and replay official during reviews, alongside video of the game footage being viewed during the process.
That's according to EssentiallySports, which cited initial reporting by Nicole Auerbach of NBC Sports.
The Big Ten's decision to expand the replay-access program comes amid the criticism after the controversial finish to Saturday's game at Michigan Stadium, during which Western Michigan was a split-second away from upsetting heavily favored Michigan, which won the game on the last play only after time was put back on a game clock many in the stadium and watching on TV thought had expired.
Mystery surrounding how the replay review was handled, including explanations of an official clock that no one but a handful of replay officials ever saw, prompted the embattled conference to make the change.
It's not a novel approach, according to The Athletic. The ACC first added live replay look-in for select games last season. The Big Ten and Big 12 joined this year, with the Big Ten adding it only for Friday games with Big Ten officials. Now, that expands to most Big Ten home games. It will not include this weekend’s Oklahoma-Michigan game, which will have SEC officials. The SEC is the only Power 4 conference without live replay look-in.
