Was referee who ejected KU’s Bill Self overworked? Here’s a look at his schedule
Don’t feel bad if you missed it, but someone at Arizona State pulled off a funny prank after Kansas coach Bill Self was ejected from Tuesday night’s game.
As Self left the court, someone at Desert Financial Arena hit the smoke machine.
The ejection itself wasn’t so funny, because nearly everyone agreed that referee Doug Sirmons was rash in his decision to give Self a second technical foul. We don’t know what was said (if anything), but many fans wondered if perhaps Sirmons was tired on Tuesday night.
Fox Sports radio host Aaron Torres wrote on X: “Referees being independent contractors, who often go weeks at a time without more than a day or two off, is low key one of the biggest problems in college basketball that no one realizes is a really big problem.”
Torres’ comment came in response to The Athletic’s CJ Moore, who reported that Sirmons was officiating his ninth game in as many days, with one day off since Feb. 15.
X user Trilly Donovan shared Sirmons’ recent schedule. It shows he’s had just one day off since Feb. 15, and he was in eight states in three time zones. He worked Sunday in College Park, Maryland, then was at the Iowa State-Arizona game in Tucson on Monday, then had a short trip to Tempe.
The number of games officials work was a topic of discussion following the Jayhawks’ 70-60 loss to the Sun Devils.
X user @RefObserver17 defended Sirmons: “People would complain if it was an inexperienced official. Cuts both ways” and added: “(I)f you ask coaches, they want Sirmons even on back to back crazy schedules way more than a young inexperienced guy. Just the way it is.”
Jeff Goodman of Field of 68 offered this idea: “Just have the supervisors work together on a universal schedule. And implement a rule where you can’t work more than 7 consecutive days without a day off.”
Sports Illustrated’s Kevin Sweeney shared a look at Kipp Kissinger’s busy schedule as he worked 26 days in February.
Is there a solution to referees work schedules? Should there be a change? That’s a topic that hopefully will be discussed by the NCAA and conferences during the offseason.
This story was originally published March 4, 2026 at 9:06 AM.
