Florida State and host Virginia were locked in a double-overtime thriller last Friday night in Charlottesville as a pass headed toward Duce Robinson in the end zone.
The Florida State receiver bobbled the football, then continued to juggle through the back third of the end zone and out of bounds. The call was a touchdown for the Seminoles, the kind of narrow-margin play certain to get closer scrutiny in replay review.
Only now, TV viewers for Atlantic Coast Conference games like that one get a clear window into how officials decide to overturn or uphold those crucial calls.
The ACC is the first college conference to let viewers listen live to reviews during select broadcasts. There’s no waiting for referees to take off their headset after a mystery-filled stoppage and deliver a verdict. Instead, viewers can hear frame-by-frame discussions between stadium officials and the replay command center at the league headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina.
It has offered a welcome dose of transparency, and it has been accompanied by rave reviews for taking viewers somewhere they’ve never been before.