A college basketball scheduler would never send a team from a game in Manhattan, KS on a Monday night to Boulder, CO for a Tuesday night game. Yet, that's what the Big 12 conference did with referee Tom O'Neill.
Now, I'm not suggesting that the demands on a hoops official are the same as that of a player, but this was a difficult travel adventure for even the most seasoned of road warriors.
The Kansas State-Baylor game did not end until 10:25 p.m. on Monday evening. So, we know O'Neill got to bed late, then had to catch some sort of flight from Manhattan or Topeka to Denver, then the short drive to Boulder, all in time for a 6:00 p.m. MT tip-off.
While we can say "props to O'Neill" for his travel effort, it calls into question the quality of refereeing that Kansas and Colorado received from that member of the crew this evening. O'Neill's a veteran ref but two games, back-to-back (and one at altitude) is a lot to ask of anyone in the officiating profession.
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