The State News would like to expound on our opinion of why instant replay in Big Ten football is a bad idea.

But upon further review, we've reversed that call.

MSU and the Big Ten took a big kicking-and-screaming step into the future of collegiate sports on Friday by adopting instant replay for all football games played this coming season in Big Ten stadiums. Though the Big Ten has long been the Alamo for college football purists and fans of human error, it's a good move for the schools, the conference and the sport at large.

As is, the addition of instant replay should change Big Ten football very little. Big Ten schools already are in possession of the necessary technology and virtually nothing needs to be installed on site. Unlike NFL rules, Big Ten instant replay will have more in common with the NHL. A "technical adviser" hired by conference officials will review the call at the request of on-field referees, and the call on the field is capable of being overturned based on the replayed evidence.

Fans of the NCAA football franchise for PlayStation 2 and Xbox sadly won't be able to throw a red challenge flag when a computerized Braylon Edwards inevitably shoves off on a cornerback. The palpable tension of watching the zebras look into the magical black booth with headphones on will not exist, and the power will rest in a mythical, omnipotent referee high above the stadium, presumably in a dark, curtained room.

Instant replay will make the game cleaner, more balanced and fairer. It will reduce, but not completely eliminate, botched calls that infuriate fans, and as MSU head coach John L. Smith said, some sketchy wins or losses can expect to go the other way.

The controversy then? Fans don't want their college football changed. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. The Big Ten - hard-hitting, ground-attack, stodgy and stinging defense - always has been the one wearing the throwback jersey when the conferences hang out in the offseason. The conference least likely to adopt instant replay seems to be setting the curve for the rest of the nation.

So, while the purists are arguing about how it was better when Biggie, Bo, Woody and Joe Pa were running the show, remember all the wins and losses that would've gone the other way if instant replay were around. Former Michigan back Anthony Thomas fumbled before crossing the goal line against Illinois in 2000, but the touchdown was upheld. Ohio State's double-overtime win against Miami for the national championship in 2003 would've been tainted. Oh, and one more.

Nov. 3, 2001, and Spartan Bob, Timekeeper of the Century.

With instant replay, MSU's 26-24 win over Michigan in East Lansing should've been a loss for the Green and White. Right or wrong, good or evil, Green or Blue - that was the longest second ever in a college football game.

So, if the head coach of the champion benefactors of bumbling officials - read, MSU - calls instant replay a positive, that's good enough for us. Take the human error out of the game and keep things clean on the field. With any luck, the rest of the nation will follow suit.