The Big Ten Refs : First Impressions From a Husky Fan

As a long-time Husky fan I've spent years watching Pac-12 refs, which was more often than not, annoying. Whether they made the game about them, made bad calls and then doubled down, or just seemed to be watching a different game.

Of course, there were some bright spots and some good eras of Pac-12 reffing but under Larry Scott it was a clown show. Every game, we talked about it, every game it was mentioned, every game it was a story inside a story.

Did you notice something Saturday night when you were watching the game? No one was talking about the referees.

Washington's move into the Big Ten finally gets good referees at Husky football games

Which is exactly what should be happening with refs, they should be in the background of the game and only pop up to make sure the game is being played the right way and within the confines of the right time. I didn't see one tweet, or one mention, and the broadcast never talked about them besides when it was part of the flow of the game.

Amazing...I can hardly believe it.

There was only one time when I remember the crowd booing the refs (which used to be a mainstay at every game). It was when Decker DeGraaf was pulled down in the end zone on a pass from Demond Williams toward the end of the game. And you know what, maybe the crowd couldn't see this in person, but it was a good no-call.

The pass was uncatchable and the refs even indicated as much. Which is the right decision, to swallow the whistle.

We will see if this keeps up but my first impression of the Big Ten refs is that they are good, competent, and run a good football game. I hope the same is true for basketball and the other sports. Big Ten fans, feel free to @ me... but you don't know what we've been through. This was great.