In the words of Knute Rockne

"Looks like a Big Ten suckhole out there to me."

Huge game this weekend for the Irish.  I've been looking forward to going to this game for a while, but after beating Michigan State last week, I'm really really looking forward to it.  I'm hoping for the best win that I've ever attending in person, but one of the things I'm worried about is the Big Ten officials.

Doesn't the system of conference officials create a very high potential for some fishiness?  Yes, yes it does.  If you have a Big Ten team playing a Pac-12 team and there are Big Ten officials working the game, don't you think that could potentially be a factor?  Yes, you do.  Even in a game between two Big Ten teams, it could be a problem.  If it's late in the season and Big Ten has a team hoping for an extra BCS team playing against another Big Ten team that won't be going to the BCS, isn't there a possibility of the BCS hopeful getting some favorable calls?  Yes, there is.

So after Notre Dame has forever scorned the Big Ten by joining the ACC and has a chance to sweep the Big Ten in football this year, I'm worried about Big Ten officials working the game on Saturday.

I don't know much about soccer, but I'm pretty sure if Brazil plays Italy in soccer in Italy, they don't bring over Brazilian referees with them.  Maybe I'm wrong about that, but I would imagine the referees would be from another country.  That would make the most sense.  I can't imagine what Tommy Heinsohn would do if every team that played the Celtics in Boston brought referees from their city with them.

Of course, there's a very easy solution to this problem:  NCAA officials.  Officials should work for the NCAA, not the conferences.  You could assign crews to different regions of the country so that they're not travelling all over the country all the time.  There's a much lower chance of shenanigans if the officials get their paychecks from the NCAA instead of the conferences.

Hopefully Notre Dame wins by three or more scores on Saturday and the officials won't have a chance to affect the game.  I started with a quote from Knute Rockne and I'll end with one from Lou Holtz:  "Whatever you do, don't laugh at their stupid-looking helmets."  Go Irish!