BYU Basketball: WCC whistles set the conference up for failure

BYU Basketball has seen more whistles since starting WCC play, and they’re not alone. The increased foul calls set teams up for postseason failure.

18.2 fouls.

Of the 351 teams in Division I college basketball, the teams ranked right in the middle in fouls per game average 18.2 whistles.

That’s far too few in the opinion of the referees who cover the West Coast Conference, or at least that’s what their actions suggest.

And the way they’re calling games is setting the conference up for failure.

Yes, as Tom Holmoe pointed out, the WCC doesn’t have their own referees. They use a pool of refs that cover multiple western conferences, including the PAC-12 and Mountain West Conference.

But at least when they officiate WCC games, they’re plenty whistle-happy.

Foul-Fest

In the first two weeks of conference play, WCC teams have been whistled for an average of 19.33 fouls per game. And while it’s only a difference of a little more than one foul per contest, keep in mind that it’s the average.

If that number were for a team rather than a conference, that team would be among the 100 worst in the country.

Since WCC play began, only two teams in the conference are averaging less than that median of 18.2 fouls per game, and eight of the ten teams have been whistled at a higher rate in WCC games than they were in non-conference games.

Let’s look how many fouls each team is averaging over the last two weeks (increase over non-conference average in parentheses):

Loyola Marymount – 16.67 FPG (-1.97)
St. Mary’s – 18 FPG (+0.47)
Pepperdine – 18.25 FPG (-0.89)
Gonzaga – 18.33 FPG (+1.13)
San Francisco – 18.67 FPG (+2.53)
Portland – 19.33 FPG (+1.43)
Santa Clara – 20 FPG (+0.72)
San Diego – 21.33 FPG (+3.8)
BYU – 22 FPG (+2.03)
Pacific – 22 FPG (+1.6)

And the increased whistles, especially early in the conference schedule, have been a sore spot for years.

No-Contact

But if the refs are calling everyone for more fouls, what’s the big deal? Seems that things are still even in the conference, right?

That’s true, but the problems come when WCC teams turn around and take on teams from other conferences in the postseason.

Teams adjust their play based on how the referees call games on a consistent basis, and so the teams in the WCC will make adjustments as conference play continues. As a result, you’ll see fewer fouls called but a less physical style of play.

And then those teams good enough to make the postseason will have to try to adjust their play once again. They’ll take on other teams that have been able to play more physical in their conference slates.

And they won’t have a few weeks’ worth of games to make those adjustments.

Western Fizzle

Just look at the past few NCAA tournaments. Last year six teams from the PAC-12, WCC and MWC made the Big Dance, and only two of them managed to get past the Round of 64 – Gonzaga and Nevada – and they were both Top 25 teams.

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In 2017 five of seven teams from those conferences advanced past the Round of 64, but then two of those remaining teams lost to lower seeds.

2016 saw only three of nine teams make the Round of 32, and two of those three then fell to lower seeds.

And what do those three conferences have in common?

The same referees.

Are whistle-happy referees the only reason that western teams haven’t lived up to expectations in the postseason recently? No.

But maybe it’s time for those conferences to take a long, hard look at how their referees are aiding in those postseason struggles.