Fox made one of the best TV football moves in years last season by having ex-NFL officiating overseer Mike Pereira weigh in on-air about calls. CBS/Turner this weekend put NCAA officiating coordinator John Adams on-air Saturday after Butler's upset of Pittsburgh. Two last-second fouls — one by each team — seemed to contradict the cliché that refs swallow their whistles at the end of games to let players settle things. Adams was back again Sunday to review how officials handled the game clock at the end of North Carolina's three-point win vs. Washington.

Adams backed the game officials, saying about Butler-Pitt: "We have one point of emphasis — enforce the rules as written. … A foul is a foul."

Having Adams at CBS/Turner's Atlanta studio was a new tack, says CBS spokeswoman Jen Sabatelle, as CBS in past years had set up access to officials "but not to have them on camera."

Longtime CBS game analyst Billy Packer, in a phone interview Sunday, said having a rules official ready to go on-air was long overdue. "I've always been in favor of that and pushed the idea for years. An announcer, producer or director may have a handle on the rules, but it's not like a person who really knows them."

But with any new efforts to put TV pancake makeup on officials, it might be better to use an independent voice — like Fox's retired Pereira — rather than current officials who understandably might hesitate to second-guess colleagues.