After Michigan's win over Western Michigan, Big Ten says it will provide TV viewers with live audio during replay reviews for rest of 2026 season

The Big Ten says it will be more transparent in its replay review processes going forward.

The conference announced Wednesday it would offer "enhanced replay reviews" for all games at Big Ten stadiums in Week 2. Before the 2026 season, the conference said that all Friday night games would provide TV viewers the chance to hear live audio between replay officials and the on-field referee during replay reviews.

Since Michigan's 13-12 win over Western Michigan occurred on Saturday, the feature was not available on NBC's broadcast. Big Ten officials infamously added one second back to the game clock after a Michigan Hail Mary fell incomplete. By now, you know that Michigan made the most of its second chance as Bryce Underwood hit JJ Buchanan for a 47-yard game-winning score.

After Week 2, the greater transparency in the replay review process will extend to all conference games in 2026 "as well as home non-conference matchups officiated by Big Ten crews."

The Big Ten's announcement came after an NCAA directive establishing a "standard timing protocol" on Tuesday. In its memo from coordinator of officials Ron Snodgrass, the NCAA stated that "the official time for all college football games is the time displayed on the in-stadium game clock. When a replay review requires time to be restored or otherwise adjusted, the replay official's decision will be based on the embedded game clock contained within the program feed. If the broadcaster is unable to provide an embedded game clock, the replay official will use the game-clock graphic displayed as part of the broadcast feed."

The discrepancy between the game clock and the embedded clock on the replay review is at the center of the end-of-game controversy. The clock embedded on the replays of the incomplete Hail Mary was at 0:00 when WMU DB Micah Davis touched Underwood's pass. However, the Big Ten's replay center had a camera trained on a stadium clock and that clock still showed 0:01 when Davis touched the ball. That, per the conference's explanation after the game ended, led to the additional second being added.

Western Michigan and the MAC initially accepted the Big Ten's explanation for the clock difference but reversed course Tuesday . In a letter to the NCAA's football oversight committee, the conference asked for WMU to be declared the winner. The NCAA said that it didn't have the power to overturn a game result.