Hoops: SEC proposes collaborative rule for monitor reviews

As a member of the NCAA Men's Basketball Rule Committee, Mark Fox previously said he would try to change a rule that strangely ended a Georgia loss to Texas A&M this past season.

While an SEC-proposed rule announced Friday doesn't specifically address Fox's issue, it could be something seen as at least a step in that direction.

In the loss to Texas A&M, with Georgia trailing by one, the game clock malfunctioned and stopped at 5.6 seconds remaining to play on Georgia's final possession. The Bulldogs played the possession out, with forward Yante Maten drawing a foul. But on replay, and with the aid of a stopwatch, it was determined that Maten was fouled after 5.6 seconds would have run off. Therefore, the game ended with a Texas A&M win.

The Men's Basketball Rule Committee announced the SEC requested it "use a separate individual or individuals to collaborate with the on-court officials on all monitor reviews during their league games during the 2017-18 season. This collaboration will take place from a central location that is not at the game site."

This rule will be up for approval by the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel, which will discuss this and other potential changes on June 13. It would only go into effect for SEC league games if approved.

While the issue Georgia had at Texas A&M comes to mind, this isn't a new idea for the SEC as a league. Collaborative replay was implemented last year for football games, with a group assisting in-game officials from the SEC's office in Birmingham, Alabama.

This collaborative and centralized replay proposal may not have been enough to help the Bulldogs with the clock malfunction that occurred at Texas A&M. There was no mention in this year's rule proposals of changing how officials rectify that particular situation.

While a clock malfunction occurred, and while officials were criticized by the league office for not noticing the stoppage of time, the SEC determined the Georgia-Texas A&M referees handled the aftermath correctly.

This story was originally published May 12, 2017 at 3:29 PM with the headline "Hoops: SEC proposes collaborative rule for monitor reviews."