The Big Ten released its explanation for why Michigan got one final second against Western Michigan in the early hours of Sunday morning, but it won’t convince a large swath of fans. It also came too late to have the maximum desired effect because the conference and other sports leagues have moved too slowly toward what needs to be done.Fully public and transparent live instant replay, for every game, has to be offered. Not just for select games. Every game. Too much is on the line.The technology is in place. The XFL/UFL debuted public replay review several years ago. But over the last few years, whenever I would ask about it at a referee clinic or a league meeting, officials and administrators would tell me it’s too much of a burden. Or that it’s difficult to do with multiple games going on at once on a Saturday. Or that their league’s officials aren’t TV-ready. Or something else. Some leagues have recently added it for select games, finally, but not every game.Then Saturday night happened, and a large number of fans believe the Big Ten cooked the result for Michigan, giving a big brand one more chance to avoid an embarrassing loss.Should Michigan have gotten an extra second?Chris VanniniNearly two hours after the game ended, the Big Ten released a video of the replay process, including audio of the officiating conversation, alongside a camera that showed 0:01 on the clock when the ball hit WMU defender Micah Davis’ hands. Credit to the league for that transparency. It had to happen. If everything in that video is what it appears to be, then the officials probably got the call right. The Mid-American Conference accepted the explanation as well.But it still doesn’t explain why the clock shown on NBC’s broadcast was at zeroes, even the camera shot fixed on the in-stadium clock. The replay angle shown in the official video explanation also doesn’t actually show the moment the ball touched Davis. Common sense dictates the ball was in his arms, but how many times have you seen a replay that seemed obvious, only for the lack of a clear view on the ball or puck to be the reason the call can’t be overturned?By the time the apparent truth was out, most people had made up their minds. Others had just gone to sleep, then woke up to see stories and tweets and videos about how Western Michigan got screwed.None of this should have happened. If we had listened to and seen the replay officials’ conversation as it happened, there may still be confusion over the different clocks being used, but the broadcast may have been able to explain it. Instead, all we got was NBC analyst Terry McAulay repeating that the clock had expired, other than perhaps the possibility that the clocks weren’t synced.Two years ago, a very similar situation happened in the ACC. Virginia Tech appeared to beat Miami on a Hail Mary, only for the catch to be overturned on replay without an immediate explanation. The ACC eventually put out a statement, but it was again late at night. Many fans just thought the ACC wanted Miami to win. By the end of that season, the ACC started to let an ESPN rules analyst listen to its officials’ replay conversations, the first step in some transparency.In a remarkable coincidence, the Big Ten just five days ago announced it would add live look-ins on replay review this season — but only for the league’s Friday night games. The ACC was the first Power 4 league to offer that access last year, and the Big 12 followed suit this year. Nothing from the SEC. So it turns out it can be done. Sure could’ve used that Saturday night, huh?It’s necessary for every game in every conference where feasible, and it has to happen as soon as possible. This goes for pro sports like the NFL, too.We live in a time where conspiracies are rampant and trust is low. Admit it, you’ve said to a friend at least once that the refs wanted a certain team to win, and a part of you might have believed it.Many officiating conspiracies are baseless, but there have been enough real referee scandals across sports, from Tim Donaghy in the NBA to the Pac-12’s replay room scandal in 2018, to place the burden on leagues to show fans everything is on the up-and-up. A sport that has conference-specific officials will always open itself up to conspiracy in nonconference games. It’s why the College Football Playoff uses an outside crew.That’s the whole point of making replay review public: Fans can hear the entire conversation and know there wasn’t a call put in from the commissioner’s office to make a ruling go another way. Transparency is more important than ever. These are billion-dollar industries. So much is on the line with every play. This is about promoting the integrity of the operation.Many college football fans will never believe Michigan deserved that one extra second. The Big Ten will stand by its process. But this is a situation that never should’ve happened, and it’s on the Big Ten and every conference to make sure it doesn’t happen again.