NFL rules analyst Terry McAulay took to social media to rip NCAA Tournament referee Roger Ayers for not penalizing Connecticut head coach Dan Hurley after a controversial interaction during the Huskies’ wild finish against Duke in Sunday’s Elite Eight action.
After Braylon Mullins made a go-ahead three-pointer on an unbelievable last-second play in UConn’s stunning 73-72 win over Duke, Hurley appeared to bump heads in a bizarre face-to-face moment with Ayers, a longtime college basketball referee who was officiating the game.
— SendDaVideo (@SendDaVideo) March 30, 2026
Well, McAulay believes that Hurley should have received a technical foul for the incident, which is not the only time this month that Hurley has appeared to make contact with an official.
McAulay, the NFL rules analyst for NBC, posted to X that he’s “deeply disappointed [Ayers] didn’t do his job.”
“Under no circumstances should behavior like this go unpenalized, regardless of the sport or game situation,” McAulay explained on Monday. “Not unexpected by this coach. Deeply disappointed the official didn’t do his job.”
Under no circumstances should behavior like this go unpenalized, regardless of the sport or game situation.
Not unexpected by this coach. Deeply disappointed the official didn’t do his job. https://t.co/lUJUY8rUR4
— Terry McAulay (@tjmcaulay) March 30, 2026
Later on Monday, McAulay responded to a post on X from college basketball reporter Jeff Goodman that revealed the officials for the upcoming men’s Final Four. Ayers’ name was absent from the list.
“The official who failed to penalize Hurley’s abhorrent conduct is conspicuously missing. Speaks volumes,” McAulay wrote. “Reminds me of the situation in 1987 when three of the best failed to penalize Bobby Knight when he slammed the table during a Regional Final game. Everyone in the basketball community knew those three were done.”
The official who failed to penalize Hurley’s abhorrent conduct is conspicuously missing. Speaks volumes.
Reminds me of the situation in 1987 when three of the best failed to penalize Bobby Knight when he slammed the table during a Regional Final game. Everyone in the basketball… https://t.co/FR6CCPwn1D
— Terry McAulay (@tjmcaulay) March 31, 2026
McAulay was an NFL official from 1998 through 2017 before joining NBC as a rules analyst in 2018.
While the face-to-face interaction has gone viral, and McAulay believes there should have been consequences for Hurley, ESPN’s Seth Greenberg claims that Ayers says “nothing happened” with Hurley.
“I talked to Roger today,” Greenberg explained on a Monday edition of SportsCenter. “He said, ‘What are you talking about?’ He literally didn’t know what I was talking about. He said, ‘Nothing happened. The ball went in. I was running back. They were celebrating. Danny leaned in, said something to me. I said something to him. It was absolutely nothing.’”
