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Big East Tournament 2011: Officials Behind Blown Call Reportedly Withdraw From Tournament

Unless something incredible happens over the course of the next three days (and having watched plenty of tournaments in the past, I know that is a distinct possibility) the 2011 Big East Tournament is going to be remembered for the blown call from the end of the game between St. John's and Rutgers on Wednesday.

In case you missed it, A St. John's player stole the ball, then ran out of bounds with 1.7 seconds left and threw the ball into the stands. Somehow, all the officials on the court missed it, and the clock expired. Because they hadn't called an infraction, it was not a reviewable play. Instead of getting 1.7 seconds to tie the game or win it, Rutgers only got a 65-3 loss.

As you can imagine, people aren't too thrilled about it. Even the head of officiating has come out and said that it was a blown call (but let's be honest, I think we all knew it was before he said anything). Missing a call like that has it's consequences. According to ESPN, the three officials working that game have withdrawn themselves from the rest of the tournament.

One has to wonder if they would have been removed from the rest of the tournament had they not chosen to take themselves out of consideration. Sort of like what Maryland offered Ralph Friedgen last year. Either way, the 2011 Big East Tournament has a pretty big black eye, and it isn't getting any better.