Without a playoff system, you could argue the merits of teams throughout the season.

It is different now, and not necessarily better.

Take the issue of instant replay. “Get the call right’’ was the mantra of frustrated fans. Fine, said the powers that be. With state-of-the-art technology, we can make that happen.

Thus the replay booth was created. And when it works, it makes things better.

But what happens when the replay officials overrule what the tape seems to make obvious?

The latest example occurred last week in Indiana’s Big Ten game at Iowa. Indiana, after building an early lead, apparently scored a touchdown on a diving catch in the end zone. Officials on the field called it a touchdown, but replay officials reversed the call.

No touchdown. Momentum switched, and Iowa went on to win the game and preserve its unbeaten status.

If it were an isolated incident, it would be bad enough. But it was one of at least three replay calls that went against the visiting Hoosiers.

All of a sudden, we have conspiracy-theory advocates contending that it was in the best interest for Iowa, the lone unbeaten team in the Big Ten, to win.

The replay policy requires “irrefutable evidence’’ to reverse a call on the field. The calls in the Indiana-Iowa game did not meet that standard.

Which brings us to Part 2. Pick a region of the country and mention football officials, and you will hear groans, moans, and probably expletives.

And that’s just from the coaches.

What is going on with officiating this season?

Bad calls. Missed calls. Dumb calls. No calls.

The Southeastern Conference has been the epicenter of them, and not surprisingly, there has been an outpouring of anguish from people who think there is favoritism toward No. 1-ranked Florida.

SEC commissioner Mike Slive has already fined Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino and publicly reprimanded Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin for criticizing officials.

The rule of thumb for coaches has been simple: Vent about bad calls all you want, but do it privately, not publicly.

“There are proper channels for head coaches to use when communicating officiating concerns to the conference office,’’ said Slive in a statement last week. “As customary practice, the conference office will continue to address and review officiating calls on specific plays with each institution’s head coach, and no public comments will be made concerning those communications.’’

In other words, keep your mouth shut - in public.

Slive has already suspended one SEC crew. Will he have to suspend a head coach for speaking out?

We live in a YouTube world, where everything is available for public viewing and debate almost instantaneously.

Take last week’s Florida-Georgia game. Florida linebacker Brandon Spikes was caught sticking his finger in the eye of a Georgia player. The officials didn’t see it (with a Florida player involved, the critics will say the officials have selective vision anyway). But it wound up on YouTube and became an issue.

Coach Urban Meyer at first said that he would bench Spikes for the first half of the game against Vanderbilt tomorrow night. But some backlash prompted Spikes to announce that he was suspending himself for the entire game. Meyer and his staff supported the decision. But one wonders whether Meyer and Spikes would have taken the same action if Florida had been playing LSU this week.

The ongoing debates about BCS rankings and who is No. 1 or No. 2 and why there isn’t a playoff in college football is the normal stuff.

The issues with the replays and the officials are not; they must be fixed as quickly and as quietly as possible.

Whether that is possible in this age of instant access to just about everything is another matter. But the story each week should be the players on the field, not some guy sitting in a replay booth or some back judge throwing a flag or not throwing one.

Mark Blaudschun can be reached at blaudschun@globe.com.