AP Photo

Games featuring SEC, Pac-10 and Big Ten contenders have produced highly publicized blown calls, and in turn ample fodder for every conspiracy theorist with a blog, press pass, Twitter account or access to a message board.

David Parry has seen the other side of those calls. Now the national coordinator for College Football Officiating (CFO), Parry spent 19 years as a ref in the Big Ten. He recalls sitting in the locker room with his crew after games, fellow refs close to tears over a blown call. He remembers phone calls days later, colleagues unable to sleep knowing their misjudgment had altered the course of a game, and maybe a season.