Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

Ha. You're certainly not wrong about any of what you posted. Maybe the timing was also perfect since the fan base is still wondering how Higdon was flagged for a bizarre holding call, where he was body slammed.

A conspiracy theory against at worst the 2nd biggest money generator in the league fails to even get off the ground.

That's also only accepted holding calls.  I'd be far more interested in seeing total holding calls.  First, it would make sense that an elite defense would have a lower percentage of called holdings accepted because there's a higher chance of a play being made elsewhere.  Either one player getting held while another player got a sack, or still getting an incomplete pass on a 3rd down.  Something like that.  Second, an elite defensive line presumably would cause teams to scheme differently.  Why is Indiana at the top of that list and Michigan at the bottom?  Possibly because the gameplan against Michigan is that you better get that ball out quickly to try and negate that DL.  Third, maybe there's some amount of coaching involved there.  Just like you see more and more basketball player flail their heads back driving down the lane, you see more and more defensive linemen throw their hands up in the air, drawing fouls where (a) one may not exist or (b) one may exist, but would not have been seen but for the arms flailing.  Or maybe it's just dumb luck.

Somewhat tangentially:

I'm WAY past ready for the Big Ten to use its jerk money for full-time professional refs. It's dumb that a once/week ref can't feed a family of two (and barely a family of one) on his salary ... and that we act surprised at the quality of the calls.

And, no, paying them more can't guarantee there won't be weekly fan outcry, but at least it will be a gesture of good faith that the best refs are being chased. Not to mention that competitive pay is necessary for a healthy pipeline of officials. I'd like to see the cost/benefit of giving Big Ten refs NFL-equivalent salaries.

More transparency and individual accountability of refs is overdue as well. A few years back, the NBA started publishing extensive details for all calls and no calls in the last 2 minutes of close games. That would be a good start.

Big Ten refs need to be independently rated on performance, with transparency and consequences. Unfortunately, without higher salaries, the incentives to be a ref in such a system are low. The whole system needs a revolution.

Also they should just get rid of all officials on the field except maybe 2 - 1 on each side of the LOS and have guys sitting in booths watching the game from every imaginable angle in real time in constant communication with guys on the field telling them what penalties to call or penalties not to call or which ones they missed.