Elite Eight officials draw ire of Tennessee fans in first half
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Elite Eight officials took center stage during the first half of Sunday afternoon’s Midwest Region final between Tennessee and Michigan, which wasn’t exactly what basketball fans had in mind when they tuned in for the battle to get to the Final Four.
It was a long first half inside the United Center in Chicago because the whistles wouldn’t stop blowing as the 6th-seeded Volunteers and top-seeded Wolverines battled for a trip to Indianapolis next week. Exactly 1 hour after the 2:15 p.m. ET tip-off, there were still 2 minutes left in the first half instead of it already being halftime, most likely because of those whistles that made fans — mostly Tennessee fans — angry because they didn’t tune in to see the referees.
They tuned in to watch an SEC team battle a Big Ten juggernaut for a trip to the Final Four, and frustrated Volunteers fans, who’ve watched their team fall short in the Elite Eight the past 2 years, weren’t having any fun as Tennessee fell behind 48-26 at halftime. After just 20 minutes of play, the Vols were called for 13 fouls, with Michigan being whistled for 9.
Every Tennessee player except for 1 was called for at least 1 foul in the first half. And 4 of the 9 Volunteers who played in the first half were whistled for multiple fouls.
The officials’ propensity to call fouls and basically interrupt any flow of the game brought out some intense social media reaction, mainly from Tennessee fans who were also frustrated at the halftime score.
Here is just a sampling of the social media outrage from mostly Tennessee fans regarding those incessant whistles on Sunday:
Tennessee was trying to hang with Michigan in Sunday’s Elite Eight showdown amid all those whistles and keep its national title dreams alive. Here is what the Kalshi market is currently seeing regarding the national championship odds for the 6 teams left standing going into Sunday’s action:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
