MAC wants Western Michigan recognized as winner vs. Michigan - ESPN

The Mid-American Conference has appealed the outcome of Saturday night's game between Western Michigan and Michigan, asking the NCAA and College Football Playoff to recognize the Broncos as the winners of the controversial contest.

In a letter sent Tuesday, MAC commissioner Jon A. Steinbrecher said «replay protocol was not properly followed» at the conclusion of the game.

Michigan won 13-12 on Bryce Underwood's Hail Mary touchdown pass after the replay official put one second back on the clock. The stadium clock and the one shown on television showed zeros after Underwood's first Hail Mary was thrown out the back of the end zone.

«I recognize that the Oversight Committee does not ordinarily alter results recorded on the field,» Steinbrecher wrote in the letter to the NCAA. «Nevertheless, the circumstances of this game are extraordinary. The final outcome was directly affected by a replay officiating error resulting from the failure to follow an established and specific protocol governing precisely this type of end-of-half timing situation.»

The Big Ten, meanwhile, has not changed its stance.

«The Big Ten stands by the statement released following the conclusion of the Western Michigan at Michigan game and the determination made by the replay officials,» the Big Ten said in a statement later Tuesday. «We will have no further comment on the matter.»

The NCAA, in an email to ESPN's Adam Rittenberg, stated that its football playing rules do not include a mechanism to overturn the outcome of a game. Also, the FBS oversight committee «does not have the authority» to reverse an outcome.

According to Article 3 of the NCAA rulebook, scores are final when the head referee «declares that the game is ended.» Also, regarding final