Click Here to see the video of the final shot (Quicktime)
It did not take Ball State long to respond to an incorrect call at the end of Wednesday's loss to Miami. Ball State has contacted the Mid-American Conference and has sent an official protest of the game.
In the final seconds of the game, Chet Mason threw up a half court shot. Nathan Peavy grabbed the rebound with less than a second remaining and put up a short uncontested jump shot. While video shows the ball in Peavy's hand and the shot clock light on as the horn sounds, which means the shot did not go off in time, the shot was ruled good on the floor.
Chris Taylor, director of GameDay Experience, said the athletics department mailed the complaint Thursday morning to the MAC offices. Included were three different tapes of the final play -- from WIPB, IndianaFilms and the team's camera. He added that although the outcome can't be changed, coach Tim Buckley and Athletics Director Bubba Cunningham also contacted MAC Commissioner Rick Chryst about the situation.
"The most Ball State could hope for is a formal apology, an acknowledgment of the officials' mistake or a public reprimand of the officials," Taylor said.
The call could not be reviewed by officials because the game was not broadcast on live television; it was only being taped. The Ball State Sports Network, WISH-TV and Indiana Films LLP all had shots of the final shot, as well as the team's cameras set up to review game footage. Buckley was able to review the footage following the game and said at the post-game press conference the footage clearly showed the shot did not get off in time.
The Ball State Sports Network's footage shows six frames, or two-tenths of a second with the ball in Peavy's hands and the light illuminated. In the previous frames, the light is not in the picture.
Teleplex director Bill Bryant said that the sports network was not broadcasting the game because they were under the impression that the game was going to be broadcast by another network.
MAC Television has shown interest in the rivalry matchup for their television package and had broadcast the game the previous two seasons. After MAC-TV passed on the game, Bryant was under the impression that Miami's TV outlet would be picking up the game.
"We didn't find out until [Monday] that there was no TV coverage," Bryant said. "On Tuesday, there was some people who said 'let's do it, let's broadcast the game.' But it is a big financial commitment."
Not only would BSSN have to arrange sportscasters but would also have to reserve satellite time, secure a remote truck and organize a crew -- all for a game that may not be broadcast outside of Muncie. The network had already made an effort to broadcast more weekend and less weekday games because of preemption on week nights, and they would have less than 24 hours to secure affiliates for the game.
"This game will be one of the many topics when we discuss our schedule next year," Bryant said. "Miami is one of our top rivals; it's a shame it wasn't covered (on television.)"
"If it were up to me we would have every game on TV."
The MAC had no comment, saying that the process of reviewing the call is done internally. The review would be in it's early stages, if it had even been started.
Paul Cox, a MAC observer of officials, was in attendance Wednesday but could not be reached for comment.
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