Several times I have used this forum to forward my opinion that the NCAA should require that a crew of neutral officials be assigned to work each intersectional college football game.

With another season right around the corner, teams are just three weeks away from fall practice. Many early season games are against non-conference teams, and an officiating crew from one conference or the other will be assigned to work those game.

There seem to be questions about the officiating in those games much more so than in regular conference games.

An NCAA Football Rule (Rule 1, Section 4b) states officiating crews will be assigned from the same officiating organization. This rule outlaws the old split crew which resulted in three or four officials from the home team’s conference and three or four officials from the visitor’s conference working a game.

That situation often resulted in a flag fight among the officials, with one official attempting to trump the other by making get-even calls.

This cast a cloud over all college officiating resulting in a loss of confidence in officiating by coaches, players and fans.

There is no way at all to eliminate all errors in officiating, but taking out the homer factor can help move things to a higher plain.

We all know there will be questions about officiating regardless of where those officials live, but if the question of obvious bias can be taken out of the equation the game will be helped.

Football is not the only sport affected by biased officiating, but it is the game with which I have been more closely associated and am likely more knowledgeable.

Neutral officiating crews in college football are possible because all NCAA-affiliated schools play under the same rules and their officials operate under the same Collegiate Commissioners Association Football Officiating Manual.

In only one or two states is high school football played under NCAA rules; the balance of states play under National Federation of State High Schools rules, which have many differences from the NCAA.

I knew a couple of guys in the distant past who were able to officiate a high school game on Thursday or Friday nights, a college game Saturday and a NFL game on Sunday.

The NCAA now, I believe, demands an official’s undivided attention. Balancing the three sets of rules must have been really difficult for those fellows.

To change sports, I noticed in a couple of recent newspaper articles that a player in a 14-year-old baseball tournament game was ejected from the game for arguing an umpire’s call and in another game in the same tournament a coach and his players loudly argued another call.

In my opinion any player who is ejected from a baseball (on any) game is following his coach’s example.

Officials are going to make mistakes, just as players and coaches make mistakes. The human element cannot be removed from any contest, athletic or other.

And that’s official.

Al Graning is a former SEC official and former Natchez resident. He can be reached at

AlanWard39157@aol.com.