The Big 12 might have found the dumbest rule possible

All rules exist between two sets of opposing concepts.

The first is clarity versus flexibility. You want rules to be clear, so players and coaches know what is allowed, but you also want them to be flexible so you can prohibit actions that violate the spirit of the rule (if not the letter) and excuse violations that were never meant to be penalized.

The second is absurdity versus sensibility. Some rules fit as a matter of safety and order, like penalizing hits after the whistle, and some are arbitrary distinctions we've decided to enforce, like only having to get one foot in bounds for a catch to count in college.

Using those two sets of opposites, we could construct a spectrum that all college football rules would fit on.

The Big 12, however, has come up with a rule that somehow is so far in the lower left quadrant that you would need this chart to be the size of a freeway billboard to plot it.

Part of the Big 12's new sportsmanship policy: Schools can be subject to penalty if they show controversial replays too much in a venue.

— David Ubben (@davidubben) May 28, 2015

Someone will now be tasked with monitoring the video screen after each home game to determine if:

a) the venue showed a "controversial" replay
b) the venue showed this replay "too much."

The inherent subjectivity guarantees an endless stream of finger-pointing. (The SEC had a rule that forbid schools from playing a replay more than once, but at least that didn't involve a judgment call.) Our replay wasn't controversial because the refs were wrong! Why did we get in trouble for showing a replay four times when Oklahoma State showed a replay FIVE times? First Amendment! First Amendment!

And maybe that discord would be worth it if this rule was addressing any actual problem. But nobody cares if the home fans get to boo the refs over and over after they blow a call. If "cranky spectators convinced they're getting screwed" was a major detriment to college football, Tennessee would have been forced to shut down its program decades ago.

People have the Internet, Big 12. This ham-fisted attempt to control what the fans see is equal parts doomed and stupid. Maybe focus more effort on improving the quality of the officiating. Or just stick to defending your dudes on Twitter.