College Basketball: NCAA Referees Have Their Own Selection Sunday
There are 68 teams in the land of college basketball. All of these teams are either hoping to make it into March Madness or are patiently waiting for their time to shine. For each game, there are three people striving to do their best and get their own selections. There are 96 NCAA referees all waiting for the same thing those 68 teams are waiting for.
I, like any other college basketball fan, love making out brackets. I will even make one out before Selection Sunday. I decided to have a little fun and select the tournament officials. Since there are more teams and games this year, I raised the number of officials from 96 to 99. The intent is that three brand new tournament officials would officiate in the First Four games to give them experience to work from in future years.
In the last slide I will have already selected the Championship officials.
The First Four in Dayton, OH
1 of 10
In the First Four games in Dayton, OH I have selected the following:
Les Jones, Pat Driscoll, Doug Sirmons, Dick Cartmell
Karl Hess, Ted Valentine, John Higgins, Joe Lindsay
David Hall, Sean Corbin, Randy Heimerman, Bruce Hicks
The last three listed are the three newcomers and will only officiate in this opening round of games. The rest move on to their designated second and third round cities.
Charlotte, NC NCAA Tourney Referees
2 of 10
In Charlotte, NC:
Dick Cartmell, Ted Valentine, Brian O'Connell, Gary Maxwell
David Hall, Ray Natili, Sean Casady, Tim Higgins
Tim Kelly, Gary Prager, Bert Smith, Raymond Styons
As a note, the first four are crew chiefs in any list.
Chicago, IL Tourney Referees
3 of 10
In Chicago, IL:
John Cahill, Tony Greene, Rick Hartzell, Don Daily
James Barker, Michael Irving, Bo Boroski, Duke Edsall
Michael Greenstein, Terry Oglesby, Rick Randall, Zelton Steed
Cleveland, OH Tourney Referees
4 of 10
In Cleveland, OH:
Jamie Luckie, Tom Eades, John Higgins, Antinio Petty
Jeff Clark, John Hughes, Jeffrey Anderson, Paul Faia
Sean Hull, Hal Lusk, Chris Rastatter, Lamar Simpson
Denver, CO Tourney Referees
5 of 10
In Denver, CO:
Doug Sirmons, Karl Hess, Jim Burr, Mike Eades
Kevin Brill, Ray Perone, Rick Crawford, Michael Eggers
Kipp Kissinger, Steve Olson, Ruben Ramos, Mike Thibodeaux
Tampa, FL Tourney Referees
6 of 10
In Tampa, FL:
Randy McCall, Paul Janssen, Mike Reed, Mike Kitts
John Gaffney, Anthony Jordan, DJ Carstensen, Gene Steratore
John Hampton, Tim Nestor, Mike Roberts, Terry Wymer
Tucson, AZ Tourney Referees
7 of 10
In Tucson, AZ:
Les Jones, Michael Stephens, Tom O'Neill, James Breeding
Pat Adams, Mike Nance, Rick Batsell, Terry Davis
Shawn Lehigh, Tony Padilla, Mike Scyphers, Ron Tyburski
Tulsa, OK Tourney Referees
8 of 10
In Tulsa, OK:
Pat Driscoll, Doug Shows, Verne Harris, Mike Sanzere
Ed Corbett, Gerry Pollard, Eric Curry, Patrick Evans
Ed Hightower, Brent Meaux, Steven Pyatt, Lamont Simpson
Washington, DC Tourney Referees
9 of 10
In Washington, D.C.:
Scott Thornley, Roger Ayers, Joe Lindsay, Mark Whitehead
Tim Clougherty, Kelly Self, Chris Beaver, Joe DeMayo
Donnie Eppley, Glenn Mayborg, Wally Rutecki, Earl Walton
Championship in March Madness
10 of 10
Before I get to the Championship Game, many of the officials move on from the preceding rounds. In every region, the first four officials are the crew chiefs and all move on. Two of the first in the second line also move on. From there, the numbers dwindle as the rounds get closer to the Championship.
In the Championship Game for 2011, the three I have chosen to officiate are:
Jamie Luckie (crew chief)
Les Jones
Pat Driscoll
As with brackets, I'll be interested to see how accurate I am. I'll bet I have more accuracy rate in officials than the actual brackets themselves.
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