Leach awaits news from Big 12 office

Mike Leach spent most of his postgame news conference Saturday criticizing game officials, and now the Texas Tech football coach awaits whatever punishment might be handed down by Big 12 Conference commissioner Dan Beebe.

"It's in the review process right now by the commissioner with an announcement likely in the next day or two,'' Big 12 assistant commissioner Bob Burda said Sunday. "The commissioner has wide-ranging latitude with sportsmanship (sanctions), ranging from private reprimand to suspension. Could also be a fine.''

Burda said no maximums are listed in league bylaws.

Kansas coach Mark Mangino was fined for criticizing officials in 2004, but no Big 12 football coach has been suspended during the league's 12-season existence.

Texas Tech defender Jamar Wall (3) intercepts a pass intended for Texas receiver Jordan Shipley (8) during the second quarter of a football game in Austin, Texas on Saturday, Nov. 10, 2007. Texas Tech's Darcel McBeth (7) is at right.

Associated press

Tech athletic director Gerald Myers said he had separate conversations with both Beebe and Leach on Sunday.

Regarding his opinion of Leach's comments, Myers said: "I don't really have anything that I'd care to say about it. I can understand a coach's frustration of a game, and I felt he was frustrated with the game and that was his reaction.''

In the aftermath of his team's 59-43 loss at No. 15 Texas, Leach spent several minutes questioning the integrity and competence of the officiating crew. He spoke in calm, measured tones and referred to his playsheet to remind himself of calls or no-calls with which he wanted to disagree publicly.

Even when he was done, he wasn't done.

Leach retreated into the locker room while a couple of his players did interviews, then came back out and said he had forgotten to criticize the league's video review system, which he called "a sham.''

Myers said he was close enough to hear much of what Leach said but didn't consider intervening.

"He was composed,'' Myers said. "He was giving his opinion of what he thought. He's in a position to ... If he decides to make those comments, then there are certain consequences that everybody's aware of, but he felt the needed to make those comments.''

Leach said "the level of officiating'' was "a complete travesty.'' It was the second year in a row for him to make an issue of officiating in the Tech-Texas game. After last year's 35-31 UT victory, Tech sent a videotape to the league office containing 18 calls or no-calls with which Leach disagreed.

"My willingness to look the other way for years at a time and not see what part I can do - even if costs me, even if it hurts me - I'm not willing to take a back seat anymore,'' he said.

Without naming him, Leach singled out referee Randy Christal, an Austin resident, on Saturday and said officials should not call games involving their hometown teams or alma maters. Each of the last two Tech-UT games also had a Lubbock resident on the crew - Kelly Deterding as the line judge on Saturday and Tim Pringle as the line judge in last year's game.

Christal and Deterding also were part of the crew for the Tech-Oklahoma game in 2005 that ended in controversy with a disputed last-play touchdown by Taurean Henderson.

Leach said he would be in favor of drawing from a nationwide - rather than conference-specific - pool of officials.

Leach was asked if he thought there was a bias against Tech or for Texas.

"Perhaps there's one for Texas,'' he said. "Perhaps somebody that's higher bowl wise, that stands to make more money, has a level of preference in treatment. I don't know. I can't guess at the motivations.''

It was a similar comment that netted Mangino a $5,000 fine after his team's 27-23 loss to Texas in mid-November 2004. Mangino suggested afterward that a late offensive pass interference call against one of his players was made because it was better for the Big 12 to have Texas remain in contention for a BCS bowl.

Leach implied that even unbiased, skilled officials can make things tougher on underdog teams. "Maybe it's something as simple as guys sitting over the water cooler,'' Leach said, "perhaps in their office, in Austin, talking to their friends about the great game they're going to see, the great players they're going to see, and perhaps a notion is developed how it's going to come out. And maybe people see the things that they've previously convinced themselves that they're going to see.''

Leach was rankled by a sequence of third-quarter plays that came when Tech had the ball in Texas territory and was trying to cut into a 35-20 lead. A diving, one-handed catch by Mike Crabtree, ruled incomplete, was upheld by video review. A catch in the end zone by Edward Britton, ruled a touchdown, was reversed when video showed Britton let the ball hit the ground in the midst of his diving, rolling catch.

Two plays later, a holding penalty wiped out a fourth-down touchdown pass to Danny Amendola, and Leach thought officials missed a late hit on his quarterback on the same play.

The game was interrupted five times by plays going to video review.

"That either needs to be done away with or it needs to be done correctly,'' Leach said. "It's a brother-in-law process that makes the officials look like they get the calls right and everybody's doing a great job of working. I'm tired of the way we pretend that we're actually reviewing plays closely. I'm tired of as soon as it looks like I'm going to challenge a play, they immediately review, so the officials look like they're cleaning their house.''