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A reader informed me of a blog entry on the Deseret Morning News website that reads as follows:
"BYU's athletc department learned late Monday afternoon, Saturday's game with the Bruins will not be a split crew, a feature being worked on by the MWC, WAC, Conference USA and Big 12 (future). Saturday's game will be officiated by a MWC crew."
I can say with 100% confidence that this weekend's crew will, in actuality, be a "split crew." As I posted last night, the crew assignment for Saturday's BYU-UCLA game consists of three officials hired originally by the MWC (who worked MWC games last season), and four officials hired originally by the WAC (who worked WAC games last season).
However, as outlined in this blog last week, the "conference designation" is essentially now obsolete, since the MWC has entered into the officiating consortium that includes officials from the MWC, WAC and Big 12 this season. So, to restate, saying an "MWC" crew will work Saturday's game is somewhat misleading, since the league's new plan is designed to eliminate any such labels. The goal is a regional/national network of officials not linked solely to any one league.
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Flashback to August 1st, when I passed along information relative to this season's officiating plans in the MWC:
"...what follows is how the officiating crews will be composed for games within the Mountain West Conference this season (when games are played in MWC stadiums, or when the contract calls for the MWC to provide the crew). In those instances, teams will get either:
-a crew composed of MWC/WAC officials (usually 4/3 or 3/4 split)
OR
-a crew composed of Big 12/MWC/WAC officials (there will be two of these crews)
OR
-a crew composed of Big 12/MWC officials (there will be one of these crews)
Next year, the plan is to more fully incorporate the Big 12/MWC/WAC crews across the three conferences involved.
By the way, the Pac-10 wants no part of any officiating consortium. Can't say I'm terribly surprised."
"Cougar Tracks" August 1, 2008
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