Sports media reacts to FBS oversight committee admitting mistake in Michigan-WMU finish

The FBS oversight committee announced on Wednesday what anyone watching the Week 1 game between Michigan and Western Michigan already knew— the Broncos got robbed .

While the precise definition of "robbed" will vary from person to person—some called the phantom second added back onto the clock a conspiracy, while others simply noted what a weird sequence of events it was to allow Michigan an extra play —everyone watching at home was left confounded as Western Michigan shocked the world, only to be shocked right back .

In the immediate aftermath of the game, Western Michigan were first understanding of the outcome, but then later filed an appeal to the FBS oversight committee , arguing that proper clock protocols weren't followed in the final sequence of the game.

As it turns out, the FBS oversight committee agrees.

"The committee agreed that the instant replay protocols were not followed in the contest's second-to-last play," the committee wrote in a statement . "Had the protocols been followed, the outcome of the game would have been different."

However, despite the acknowledgement that Western Michigan should have been named the rightful winner of the game, the statement also made clear that "the committee confirmed that it does not have the authority to overturn the contest."

This is a pretty comical turn of events, as it lands us in the worst of both worlds. Not only is it confirmed the wrong outcome was awarded, but also there is simply nothing that can be done to fix it.

Understandably, college football media was somewhat flummoxed by the statement.

So there you have it. The outcome of the game would have, and should have been different, but alas, nothing can be done, because the game has been declared final. Thus concludes one of the strangest moments in recent memory of one of our strangest sports.

Given how clearly the statement lays out that Michigan should have lost the game, it's possible that the selection committee will view the game as a loss , or something "loss-adjacent" let's say, should the Wolverines be in the postseason conversation later this year. That may provide Western Michigan a bit of cold comfort at least, but it does nothing to give back the high emotions that the Broncos should have been able to ride through the rest of the season based off of their performance against Michigan.

Everyone watching the game as it happened left confused, and despite not having an in-depth knowledge of the minutiae of end-of-game rule scenarios, it seemed the college football world was instantly in agreement of "that's not how that's supposed to work."