What happens during a Big Ten football replay, and how an Xbox controller plays a role (2024)

ROSEMONT, Ill. —The fate of a real-life NCAA football game in 2024 could be in the hands of someone holding an Xbox controller.

Game controllers aren't just for "College Football 25" this season.

Big Ten vice president for football administration A.J. Edds pointed toward the 18 wired Xbox controllers sitting in front of touch screen monitors when the conference unveiled its new replay center Tuesday. They could be some of the most powerful gaming consoles around, but they're really to make the right call on disputed plays at Big Ten stadiums.

The controllers, Edds said, won out in testing options for simplicity of performing replay tasks like video fast forwarding and rewinding and advancing frame by frame.

"The Xbox controller just inherently has that operation built into it," Edds said.

When a play goes to the replay protocol in a game at a Big Ten stadium, it now gets decided in the conference's elaborate video hub. Here's how the process works.

What happens when a call is reviewed at a Big Ten stadium?

The video replay official in a designated area of the stadium's press box communicates with the collaborative replay official (CRO) positioned at one of 18 monitoring stations in the review center throughout the game. The CRO is working on only one game at a time, but the replay supervisor, positioned on an elevated platform in the middle of the room, can be watching multiple.

The CRO illuminates a red tally light on top of a pole at the top of the monitoring station to indicate that a review is ongoing in their game. That draws the attention of the replay supervisor, who joins the audio conversation along with the game referee on a headset from the field.

It's the CRO's responsibility to use a touch screen interface designed by Hawk-Eye Innovations and the Xbox controller to find the right camera angles and positions to determine whether the play should be upheld or overturned.

The CRO has instant access to every camera angle provided by the TV network through Hawk-Eye's Synchronised Multi-Angle Replay Technology and immediatelycan roll back any of them without waiting for the broadcast to show the footage.

NCAA rules say the video has to convince the replay official "beyond all doubt that the ruling was incorrect" for the on-field ruling to be overturned.

Who makes the final decision on a review in a Big Ten football game?

The replay supervisor in the replay center has the final authority in games at Big Ten stadiums.

A pool of 11 supervisors and CROs employed by the Big Ten has combined for more than 100 years of replay experience, Edds said. They also have been involved in 64 NFL postseason games, including the last five Super Bowls.

Big Ten coordinator of football officials Bill Carollo, who assigns personnel both on field and for reviews, said he's trying to limit the number of games worked by a CRO on any day to two.

"There's fatigue in this business, and we want to make sure our guys are fresh and relaxed," Carollo said.

Unlike on-field officials, the names of replay officials both in the stadium and at the replay center aren't listed in the game's box score.

What kinds of plays can be reviewed under NCAA football rules?

There are eight areas for review in the NCAA football rule book, starting with scoring plays. Passes can be reviewed to determine whether a catch was made and whether the pass was legal.

Questions of whether a ball was live or dead on a fumble and whether a player reached the line to gain or stayed inbounds can be ruled on by review. Multiple areas of kicks and punts are eligible.

Targeting penalties are automatically reviewed. Checking and adjusting the game clock and assessing the number of players on the field for a play can be done through the replay process.

The review official can correct obvious errors unless specifically excluded in the rules. And a penalty can be assessed using video in certain cases when no foul was called during the play.

How does the new replay center change the process?

The NCAA in 2024 formalized what had been an experimental football rule since 2016, to allow personnel away from the stadium to be involved in the adjudication of plays. Before 2016, only officials on the field or the video replay judge could be part of the task.

The Big Ten took part in the collaboration experiment with a different facility before it decided to embark on a 10-month plan to build its own command center before the 2024 season.

"This decision that the Big Ten made, with A.J.'s leadership and the commissioner, is probably the most significant event that I've seen in my 16 years here in the Big Ten," Carollo said. "It's that important."

Where is the Big Ten Replay Center?

It's on the ground floor of the conference office in Rosemont, Illinois. The replay center, covering about 2,000 square feet, is in a space that used to be the Big Ten Experience, a museum of sorts that was open to the public.

Access to the replay center, on the other hand, is highly limited. There are windows to look into the space but they can be obscured at the push of a button.

Who can and can't be in the Big Ten Replay Center?

Only officials assigned to work games in either a supervisor or CRO role, members of the conference's replay and officiating services staff, football administration staff, medical observers and technicians are allowed in the room during games.

The room has six work stations for centralized medical observers, who work with independent medical spotters at games. Medical decisions aren't made from the replay center, Edds said; the personnel there are only an added resource.

The public will get occasional peeks into the room during games: Two cameras are mounted to the ceiling, and the conference will give feeds from those to its broadcast partners to show what's happening. It's only a video transmission; no audio is provided.

Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti has a background as a sports TV executive, which comes through with those cameras and the ability to use the replay center as a studio during non-game hours.

"Even that little glimpse — it could be for 10 seconds, it could be for 3 seconds — can help somebody that inherently doesn't know what's going on or how it's occurring better understand for next time," Edds said.

Big Ten staff members, including Petitti, are not allowed in the replay center during games. The conference HQ has a third-floor command center with multiple viewing stations.

"We are not trained replay personnel," Edds said. "We are not trained medical personnel. And we don't have a working role in this room. This room is a decision-making room and therefore it's not a game-observation room."

What happens if the replay center has an outage during a game?

The Big Ten's replay center policy puts decisions back in the hands of the in-venue replay official if the replay center goes offline.

Any change in who has the final replay decision has to be communicated to the referee and coaches.

What kind of technology does the Big Ten Replay Center use?

The replay center has banks of screens across two of its walls in addition to the touch screens at the 18 game monitoring stations. The video board at the front of the room can show up to 12 feeds. Game information also can be displayed to those in the facility.

There's nearly 500 square feet of digital displays over 54 monitors in the room. Guests are reminded not to bring in any food or beverage to protect the equipment.

All 18 Big Ten football stadiums have been connected to the replay center through AT&T Global Video Solutions high-speed networking. Hawk-Eye Innovations is the league's replay partner and provided the interface that officials use.

The room also was designed with acoustics in mind. The Big Ten office is next to an interstate highway and not far from O'Hare International Airport, so blocking out sound from outside was a priority, Edds said. Noise control inside the room also includes the panels between the game monitoring stations, walls, floor and ceiling.

"This shows the commitment the Big Ten has to getting things right for our student-athletes, our coaches, our fans," Petitti said. "And I'm really confident that the staff that Bill and A.J. and Dean Blandino put together with this technology is going to get us to the right place. That's the goal: to get things right. This facility is going to put us on a great path to do that virtually all the time."