Checking up on the Officials

Thirty-one NCAA Division I conference commissioners will meet over the next two days at the Big Ten Conference offices in Park Ridge, Ill. Big West commissioner Dennis Farrell expects background checks for officials to be a hot topic after a sports betting scandal involving a referee rocked the NBA.

Tim Donaghy pleaded guilty on Aug. 15 to two federal charges after the FBI investigated allegations he gambled on games he officiated and made calls to influence the point spread. Farrell said the case has given the NCAA and its conferences reason to wonder if they are doing enough to preserve the integrity of college athletics.