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With No. 9 seed Florida State up 75-70 against No. 1 Xavier and less than five seconds remaining, The Seminoles' celebration was well underway. FSU players stormed the court to celebrate their stunning comeback driven by a fast and furious pace and bench heroics.
The problem for some viewers? That bench should also have given Xavier a chance to tie things up as the game winded down.
FSU couldn't wait to celebrate...#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/vBvABtr5UI
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 19, 2018
A lot of people noticed something off about that scene. They were wondering why Florida State wasn't assessed a technical. Yes, it was a two-possession game, but a technical could have changed the outcome. In March Madness 2018, anything seems possible.
Florida State has three guys from the bench run on the court with time on the clock.. should’ve been one tech for sure, up to three.. five point game, that’s 2-6 foul shots for Xavier pic.twitter.com/wpT1zcGFgT
— Ant Wright (@ItsAntWright) March 19, 2018
So @NCAA do we allow 6 players on the floor now??? With 2.6 seconds left a Florida State player clearly runs off the bench onto the floor. @FSUHoops @XavierMBB #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/gsbYJxStKa
— Kyle Bollers (@kbbollers) March 19, 2018
I see two technical fouls on the Florida State bench though.... #marchmadness https://t.co/kq50xo8VUj
— K. Mendoza (@k_mendoza20) March 19, 2018
Ha like 3 Florida state guys on the bench came on the court to celebrate with the clock still running!
— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) March 19, 2018
Should refs have called a technical on Florida State for too many guys on the floor? Guy in white and middle guy in lane were on he bench. Would have been sweet to see it and given Xavier a chance to tie. #MarchMadness #Xavier pic.twitter.com/QiBwNX5Elh
— Brett Ketterman (@Brett_Ketterman) March 19, 2018
Florida state just had 4 bench guys on the floor before the clock expires... no technical foul... can someone explain?@NCAA
— Nick Honcoop (@nickhoncoop) March 19, 2018
Not that it matters but the refs ignored a technical foul, Florida State had at least one player run from bench on the floor w/ 2 seconds left. Saw the refs in the MEAC Tournament Final stop down celebration at the buzzer to review, put time on clock & administer techs for that
— Mark Followill (@MFollowill) March 19, 2018
Florida State player ran onto the floor from the bench with 3.2 seconds left in front of official. Should have been a Technical. @JayBilas @bwood_33 @ESPN_ReceDavis @SethDavisHoops @TheJetOnTNT @CBSSportsCBB @wallyball @JonRothstein
— Philippe Doherty (@coachpdoherty) March 19, 2018
This goes on and on, but the bottom line is this: The call people were looking for would have been a delay of game, and it was the right call to not assess a technical.
Here's the official NCAA rulebook's penalty for a delay of game:
Delay/Penalty. (Rule 4-10.2). When a second warning for a delay is given for a delay which is different from the first delay, a technical foul shall be assessed for any further delays.
Florida State's bench hadn't been assessed a warning yet, so it would have been given one first. Furthermore, however, this wouldn't even meet the rulebook's definition for a delay of game warning, which is as follows:
Delaying the game by preventing the ball from being promptly made live or by preventing continuous play, such as but not limited to, followers or bench personnel entering the playing court before player activity has been terminated. When the delay does not interfere with play, it shall be ignored, and play shall be continued or be resumed at the point of interruption (See Rule 10-2.8.d and Rule 10-4.2.h).
Florida State's bench wasn't interfering with the result, it was just a bit overzealous on the celebration. So we go from a warning of the bench to no warning at all and maybe a resumption of play from the sideline.
Officials could have called an administrative tech, which does result in two free throws and possession. However, this comes down to the letter of the law vs. the spirit of the rule. The rule exists to prevent one team from getting a competitive advantage, not to stop it from celebrating an upset with two seconds left.
Administrative techs are assessed for too many men on the floor, which generally only occur coming out of timeouts or, in rarer cases, to start the half. We see players come onto the floor frequently in bench celebrations after a dunk or a three, and it's not whistled because it doesn't impede the flow of the game. The only difference is that this time the ball was coming towards them. The player was also wearing a warm-up shirt, which would only further the case against too many men on the floor.
Florida State now plays No. 4 seed Gonzaga in the Sweet 16 on Thursday. In spite of the no-call, we may see the bench exercise a bit more restraint if it pulls off another upset.
