These games actually sparked an investigation of the officials which brought to light some very interesting factoids about the crew leader, Stephen Pramon. It seems that Mr. Pramon had previously filed bankruptcy, citing debts of over $400,000. The kicker is that two of the listed creditors were casinos.
While the investigation never came right out and accused Pramon of attempting to alter games he was officiating, it was certainly implied as a strong possibility. Pramon and his crew were eventually fired as a result of the investigation.
The reason why the OSU-Illinois game gets a slightly higher ranking is because the loss caused Ohio State to lose their #1 ranking. Illinois did play lights out football, and they certainly played good enough to win, but their effort was definitely overshadowed by controversial calls.
This game might have been even higher on the list had OSU not had a chance to play for the national title anyway.
3. Oklahoma vs. Oregon – September 16, 2006
Now we’re getting into the area where bad calls are more than just bad officiating, but have the makings of blatant cheating.
It was a hard fought game in Autzen Stadium and Oregon had just scored a touchdown to bring the score to 33-27. Oklahoma was ahead by 6 and there was 1:09 left on the clock. Oregon naturally attempts the onside kick and it is recovered by an OU player.
To the amazement of everyone in the stadium, the announcers, and everyone watching at home, they refs call for a review. It goes to the replay booth where Oregon fan and local Eugene resident Gordon Reise misses what everyone else in the world saw; that an Oregon player touched the ball before it went 10 yards and an OU player recovered it. It also turns out that the referee who called for the review was a high school buddy of Oregon coach Mike Belotti.
The ball was given to Oregon. What?!
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