re: Regardless of how we do on the field. The league office will not allow LSU to win

I rewatched the 2016 game last night. People are saying blah blah Alabama had more penalties. It's not that. It's the situation they call them.

Late in the game the officials showed up. In the 3rd LSU is into Alabama territory and we get thrown into our bench by the face mask. Of course LSU takes exception to it and Alabama starts shoving guys around. They call two unsportsmanlike penalties on Alabama and one on LSU. Penalties offset.

Early in the 4th they call a really ticky tack late hit on Hurts while he's running out of bounds. Danielson even says that's the kind of play they were letting go earlier in the game. That penalty helps spring Alabama and sets up their TD drive.

Later that drive there's two hold on Hurts' TD run. Neither called. Alabama wins.

That play is all the proof we need

It isn't always the ones they call it is the ones they don't.

3 holding lineman on the hurts td last year not called. When you close your eyes it is hard to see the bama holding.

also on the screen pass major holding.

Some of you morons actually think refs don't influence who wins.

Vegas knows and there is a reason they know. Inside info on how games will be called.

I think it just comes down to the sec office in in Birmingham Alabama.

I have been in favor of them moving the office to Atlanta for a long time.

The sec office is bought and paid for with the Bama boosters.

Pls Alabama has been allowed to cheat with immunity for so long they have surpassed USC .

How long does the tinfoil last before you have to make another hat?

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so if an opposing team is getting close late in a game they will subconsciously start to panic and look much harder for a call in bamas favor. Such as a timely drive killing call to swing the momentum back into the good guys (bamas) favor.

This also applys to Auburn and even Florida to some extent for some reason.

Occasionally, once the bias becomes much to obvious, they may call some random play in LSU's favor just to give themselves some defense and something that they can point to to try to show that they aren't biased.

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Do you really believe this is how "subconscious officiating" works. Bottom line is all refs have some slight bias, but more times than not it's a bias for the team that is supposed to be "better". That's why it's not something isolated to just Bama teams or even SEC teams for that matter.

I posted this link last season and was crucified by the fans here. Bottom line is it's all about the money generating schools with the best playoff hopes. That's the real bias in NCAAF. They need to create a separate officiating office they report to which is unrelated to any conference. It's the only way to improve the officiating and help solve this issue, imo.

Eta: all the posters here saying well look at all these bad calls against lsu are failing to remember ones for lsu. It's fan bias. It's much easier to remember a hold that cost us the game than a hold that won us a game.

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The fans aren't the ones throwing flags. Yes, some calls have gone our way but more haven't gone our way. That's what the premise of this thread is about.

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Can you send me the stats on calls for and against lsu and whether or not each call was fair? That's what i mean by fan bias. The shitty ones will always be more easily remembered than the ones that helped us win.

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That's the problem. I don't care who is a graduate of what school, if you are an official, in any conference, everyone expects the ref to be a neutral body and call the game equally and fair. 

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I 100% agree with you. That's why i don't like not having a central officiating body not tied to any conference, but even then i believe some bias will exist as refs are humans as are all of us. Yes we hold them to a higher standard due to their role in the game, but a) refs will screw up calls...they are human and b) bias exists in everyone...we are all human.

It is what it is, and only technology could help improve playcalling at this point.

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Unless things have changed, the money generated doesn't stay with the team that goes to the playoffs. They get a big chunk of revenue, don't get me wrong, fans traveling, media promotions, so forth, but it's dispersed to all the teams in the SEC. 

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Right. My pointvwas that the SEC officials report to SEC HQ. Therefore, it is in their best interest (consciously or not) to make sure the SEC team with the best playoff hopes and win probablility makes it to the playoffs. Officiating a game in favor of that team gives your conference the best chance to generate more revenue.

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la_birdman

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no offense taken. I get your point and again, i agree it is an incestuous relationship.

I agree on the bama bias. I just think that the bias stems from how they are perceived in college football more than them being from Bama. If it was the latter i think Bama would have been more relevant pre saban era.

That's why i was saying sometimes auburn gets it, or Florida, or even LSU. It all depends on who is perceived to be "better" in the minds of the refs. Besides an independent officiating body i am not sure how you fix that issue. I just don't believe the SEC is bias towards Bama because of its and their location. I believe it's because of their winning tradition and how much money they generate, and if Bama fell off in two years the next hot team in the SEC would be getting the favorable calls. Just my optinon on the matter.

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Just a passionate Tiger fan here.

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Which is what makes our fanbase so fricking awesome.

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That's why it's not something isolated to just Bama teams or even SEC teams for that matter.

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True. My posts in this thread have been more about the criminal actions of the refs in the 2009 Ark-UF game - especially the two horrendous non-existent penalties on UF's game winning final drive.

It's really not a Bama bias but a who's better bias. That's why LSU won at Bama at 2011. Both teams were undefeated and LSU appeared to maybe be the better team, but it didn't really matter who won - as evidenced by the NC game that year.

Not all conferences practice this though. In 2013 Northern Illinois was 12-0 and had a legitimate shot at a BCS bowl. Bowling Green won the MAC title game shattering those hopes. I remember thinking that I had a lot of respect for a conference allowing that to happen. But, then when I realized all of the money the conference lost, maybe it was a STUPID thing to do.
Bowling Green wins MAC title, ruins Northern Illinois' BCS hopes

The same thing happened in 2015 with Houston. They were 10-0 with impressive wins and the conference allowed them to lose to UCONN. Respectful - yes, very. Smart - probably cost the conference a lot of money.

In other conferences you will see teams have great years and then unravel the last game or couple games of the season. This doesn't happen in the SEC. Too much money at stake.

I see why the SEC does what it does, but I also think it should be a federal crime to allow it or encourage it to happen.

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That's the real bias in NCAAF. They need to create a separate officiating office they report to which is unrelated to any conference

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Agree like stated in the link you provided. NCAA basketball using pools of refs and football should do it also.

"Unlike in NCAA basketball, which draws referees from pools overseen by groups of conferences, most football referees are hired, trained, rewarded, and disciplined by individual conferences. That means officials are entrusted with making decisions that could hurt their employers—as with the call in the Clemson-FSU game. Clemson was the ACC team with the better shot at making the College Football Playoff and the financial bonanza it dangles.

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Eta: all the posters here saying well look at all these bad calls against lsu are failing to remember ones for lsu. It's fan bias. It's much easier to remember a hold that cost us the game than a hold that won us a game.

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When a team wins and the opposing fans bring up officiating it is easy to regard it as complaining about your team beating theirs. LSU fans will do it after a game against Ole Miss, Bama fans will do it after a game against LSU.

Bottom line is there is a definite bias in officiating for college football - except the MAC and AAC anyway. If I was a ref and cost my conference over $20 million for calling a straight-up game I would be VERY concerned with my employment status for the upcoming season.

Something needs to be done to correct the problem and pools of refs is probably the easiest and cheapest way to do it.

A person would have to be a full-blown idiot to think that a definite bias in college football officiating doesn't exist.