Texas Tech Radio Announcers Removed from Next Game After Criticism of Big 12 Refs

Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby issued a public reprimand of Texas Tech football's radio play-by-play announcer Brian Jensen and color analyst John Harris and suspended them for Saturday's game against Oklahoma State for their critical comments about the officiating in last week's loss to Iowa State.

"I understand the roles of the play-by-play and color analyst," Bowlsby said in a statement Wednesday. "However as university representatives they also have an obligation to adhere to conference policy regarding comments about game officials. The comments by the Red Raider Radio Network booth announcers were contrary to expected levels of respect and professionalism. Questioning the integrity of conference officials and specifically calling out members of the officiating crew is well beyond appropriate and permissible behavior."

Jensen and Harris ripped Big 12 officials on several occasions late in the Red Raiders' 41-38 loss to Iowa State, accusing them of "slanted" officiating. Jensen also called out Bowlsby by name.

 "Yeah, Bob Bowlsby, you need to answer to this. This is ridiculous. ... Unbelievable. The inconsistency of this referee crew in favor of Iowa State today, unbelievable," Jensen said.

Regional play-by-play announcers and color commentators regularly call their games with an obvious bias toward their side. Texas Tech fans don't listen to their school's radio hoping for someone to call it right down the middle. It's why local radio calls tend to go viral, because play-by-play announcers can give off unbridled joy or disappointment.

Even some mild criticism of officiating is to be expected. That said, Jensen and Harris seem to have crossed a line with their commentary when it came to accusations of game-fixing on the conference level.