College football fans aren't happy after ESPN's obvious bias gets majorly exposed during Georgia's win against Georgia Tech
ESPN couldn't hide its bias on Saturday night during Georgia's controversial eight overtime win against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. The Bulldogs once again benefitted from questionable officiating. A missed targeting call, an obvious holding penalty, and a controversial pass interference call all played a role in Georgia's comeback win over the Yellow Jackets. ESPN […]
ESPN couldn't hide its bias on Saturday night during Georgia's controversial eight overtime win against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.
The Bulldogs once again benefitted from questionable officiating. A missed targeting call, an obvious holding penalty, and a controversial pass interference call all played a role in Georgia's comeback win over the Yellow Jackets.
ESPN completely glossed over the obvious targeting penalty. NFL Red Zone host Scott Hanson, however, pointed out during the game that targeting should've been called. That missed call dramatically changed how the game was played (if Georgia Tech goes down the field and scores there, or runs enough time off the clock, they win the game….instead, it was incorrectly ruled as a Georgia Tech fumble).
The ESPN broadcast completely ignoring the bad calls that helped out Georgia isn't a surprise. That's how the network has operated for most of the season.
Where ESPN really messed up was allowing play-by-play announcer Joe Tessitore to repeatedly tell viewers that Georgia had clinched a playoff spot with the win against Georgia Tech.
Georgia still has to play the winner of Texas/Texas A&M in the SEC Championship game next weekend. If the Bulldogs lose that game to finish the season with three losses, there will be (and should be) a legitimate argument that Georgia should be left out of the playoff. A three-loss team that needed eight overtimes to beat an ACC team at home at night isn't exactly the strongest resumé — especially since the SEC is supposed to be in a different universe than the ACC.
ESPN, which isn't part of the playoff committee, is supposed to have no idea what the final rankings will look like in a couple of weeks. But by openly proclaiming (multiple times) that Georgia has "clinched" a playoff spot, the network has opened itself up to plenty of criticism (and conspiracy theories about their influence on the committee).
By the way, this wasn't just Tessitore going rogue and making those playoff comments about Georgia on his own. ESPN's website had the same message after the game, though they eventually changed their headline.
It’s easy to see why ESPN's college football coverage has faced criticism lately. Not only has the production been subpar, but the blatant bias is becoming impossible for fans to ignore.
