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The Mid-American Conference filed appeals Tuesday with the NCAA and the College Football Playoff asking that Western Michigan’s controversial last-second, second-chance loss to Michigan be considered a Broncos victory for ranking purposes.
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The NCAA responded to the MAC with a statement that read, according to The Athletic, “NCAA football playing rules do not have a protocol for overturning the outcome of a game. … The Division I Football Bowl Subdivision Oversight Committee also does not have the authority to overturn the outcome of a game.”
The controversial finish also prompted the NCAA to issue a clarification on how game-clock timing should be determined during replay reviews.
The NCAA’s memo stated, according to multiple media reports, “The official time for all college football games is the time displayed on the in-stadium game clock. …
“When a replay review requires time to be restored or otherwise adjusted, the replay official’s decision will be based on the embedded game clock contained within the program feed. If the broadcaster is unable to provide an embedded game clock, the replay official will use the game-clock graphic displayed as part of the broadcast feed. Moving forward, this timing protocol should be followed consistently at all institutions and game sites.”
Had that system been followed on Saturday, Western Michigan would have come away victorious, as the clock on the NBC broadcast showed timing expiring on what ultimately was the next-to-last play. A replay review prompted one second being put back on the clock. Michigan took advantage when Bryce Underwood completed a Hail Mary pass to JJ Buchanan for a touchdown that gave the Wolverines a 13-12 win.
MAC commissioner Jon Steinbrecher claimed in a letter that Big Ten Conference replay officials failed to follow proper protocol by using the clock feed embedded in the replay system rather than the official game-feed monitor to determine that one second should be put back on the clock at the end of regulation in Ann Arbor.
The MAC believes the game feed showed that time ran out before anyone made contact with the ball in the back of the end zone on the first pass attempt. The replay crew, using its monitor, determined that a Western Michigan defender who was out of bounds made contact with one second to play.
“This was not a judgment regarding the proper amount of time to place on the clock,” Steinbrecher said in a brief statement on Tuesday. “It was an error in the application of the established replay protocol governing this specific end-of-game timing situation. Had the protocol been properly followed and the program-feed clock been used, no additional time would have been awarded, and Western Michigan would have won the game, 12-7.”
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The conference said it has submitted formal appeals to the NCAA’s FBS Oversight Committee and the College Football Playoff, asking that the bodies consider Western Michigan (0-1) the winner of Saturday’s game “for purposes of their respective rankings, evaluations and selection deliberations, and take such other corrective action as may be within their authority.”
NBC’s broadcast of the game appeared to back up the MAC’s assertion. Officiating expert Terry McAulay said on the telecast and social media that no time should have been added.
Early Sunday, the Big Ten defended its call amid the uproar over the decision, saying the replay cameras were in sync with the game-feed cameras.
“Eighty-five minutes prior to the game, all broadcast cameras used for the replay system, including the cameras on the game clock, are synced using a strobe system to ensure all cameras are aligned,” the conference said in a statement.
The MAC initially accepted the Big Ten’s explanation, but Steinbrecher said Tuesday that further study and investigation showed replay protocol was not properly followed.
“I recognize that the Oversight Committee does not ordinarily alter results recorded on the field,” Steinbrecher said in the appeals letter. “Nevertheless, the circumstances of this game are extraordinary. The final outcome was directly affected by a replay officiating error resulting from the failure to follow an established and specific protocol governing precisely this type of end-of-half timing situation.
“Western Michigan should not be disadvantaged because the prescribed replay protocol was not followed and an unsynchronized clock was used to award a play that, under the applicable procedure, should not have occurred.”
The MAC’s appeals are based in part on Western Michigan’s potential to make the CFP as the Group of 6 representative. The conference’s coaches voted the Broncos their preseason favorite to win the MAC championship.
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–Field Level Media
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This story was originally published September 8, 2026 at 2:10 PM.