A new controversy is developing in college football. An up-and-down Week 2 is setting up the stage for Week 3. However, the Big 12 is now striking its gavel harshly on a costly mistake. It’s not a good look for the conference when it happens in a heated rivalry game. And that’s why the clean-up is happening, since one of Big 12’s own paid a tough price.

The conference released a statement revealing that the referee crew from the Kansas–Missouri game will not be allowed to take part in Week 3. This comes after the referees allowed a punt to be recorded on a free kick. The Big 12 holds the officials in violation of the NCAA’s Rule 2, Section 6, Article 16. Per this rule, the following play can be either a place kick, or a drop kick. A change in the playing roster might have set the stage for this referee mistake.

Right in the 1st quarter, Mizzou led the way with a 32-yard TD from Ahmad Hardy. Afterwards. center Connor Tollison was penalized with unsportsmanlike conduct. Kansas blocked the extra point attempt, and a kickoff was initiated. Missouri brought out punter Connor Weselman, who punted the ball for 51 yards. The Tigers’ go-to kicker, Blake Craig, was injured. Kansas TE Carson Bruhn, however, returned the punt for 9 yards. Ultimately, the Jayhawks ended up losing the game 42-31. This is Kansas’ first loss of the season.

“When the Conference’s high standard for officiating is not met, the Big 12 will take action,” Chief Football & Competition Officer Scott Draper added in the statement. The crew was led by referee Mike McCabe and umpire Brandon Wood. The staff will now be kept from the Colorado-Houston and Kansas State-Arizona clashes. “We believe we have one of the best officiating programs in college football,” Draper also said.

Kansas and Missouri restarted their longstanding rivalry in this game, following a 13-year pause since their last faceoff. A lot of pent-up energy and high stakes were fuelling this heated game, which ultimately ended in a loss for the Big 12.

What Lance Leipold said about the rivalry loss

A fan gave up 25,000 just to throw shade at Kansas football in a kicking contest – that’s how charged the atmosphere was at the Faurot Field stadium. The 57,321 people saw live how the game swung between the Jayhawks and the Tigers. Kansas had an easy 21-6 lead in the beginning. But Missouri came back fighting, tying the score by halftime. Later on, it was a dominant show from the Tigers that ultimately handed them the win. Missouri now has a 4-game winning streak in the Border War rivalry, which now stands at 57-55-9.

“We both [Lance Leipold and Eli Drinkwitz] wanted a good, clean football game that was going to be highly competitive, and we keep our young men healthy, and I think we got it,” the Kansas HC told the press after the game. But he also added he was “disappointed” about how the game turned out to be. “[We] have to get better in some areas in order to be the team we want to be,” Lance Leipold added.

Kansas still has a relatively good hope for the season after the loss, as they now stand at No. 8 in the Big 12 power rankings. They’ve moved down from the No. 5 ranking from Week 1, but fans will want to see this loss as a blip in the schedule. The Big 12, after all, is the most wide-open conference this season, with an array of teams competing for the title. And that’s why, the conference has to own up to its flaws when they occur in such a situation.