BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The NCAA Men’s Basketball Rules Committee had its meeting in Indianapolis this week, and the proposals it has made would have a profound change on how men’s basketball is played.
The recommendations made by the committee would align men’s college basketball closer to pro basketball.
One proposal that is very similar to the NBA would be a coaches challenge component. At any point of the game, so long as a team had a timeout, a coach could challenge an out-of-bounds call, basket interference and goaltending, and whether a secondary defender was in the restricted area.
If a challenge is successful, they would get one more challenge to use during the game. An unsuccessful challenge results in forfeiture of any other challenges.
Officials will still be able to initiate video reviews in the final two minutes of the game and in overtime. The NCAA claimed in a press release “recent data shows these reviews caused minimal game interruptions.”
That is close to the NBA rule that has been in place for several years.
“Data from the NCAA tournament and membership conferences showed a substantial number of reviews were on out-of-bounds plays. The committee looked at other basketball leagues around the world to see what the best solution would be for the NCAA,” said Karl Hicks, committee chair and associate commissioner for basketball at the American Athletic Conference, in a press release.
One proposal that may draw criticism from fans is a recommended modification on how continuation is called. In college basketball, there is no concept of continuation. The NBA has long allowed continuation on shots after a foul was called.
The NCAA explained that its continuation-style rule would allow an offensive player, who ends his dribble going toward the basket and absorbs contact from the defense, to be permitted to pivot or complete the step the player is on and finish the field goal attempt.
“Our players are sophisticated, and the committee felt we were penalizing offensive players who made really good moves,” Hicks said. “We want to bring our game in line by what other levels of basketball are doing. When I say other levels, that includes the high school level. Their rule is more liberal than our college rules when it comes to shooting the ball.”
The NCAA noted in a press release that these proposals would be in line with the mission to improve game flow.
“The committee focused on the flow of the game, especially the increased number of stoppages at the end of the game, this past season,” Hicks said.
“After soliciting input from the Division I Men’s Basketball Oversight Committee, Division I Men’s Basketball Competition Committee and the National Association of Basketball Coaches, prioritizing the game flow at the end of the game was particularly important for our committee,” he added.
As part of that, the NCAA would also assign points of emphasis for officials: delay of game tactics, time spent at the monitor and unmentioned improvements in game administration and efficiency. The NCAA also mentioned that they want to reduce physicality.
The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approves proposals before they become official. The panel next meets on June 10.
The committee also looked into converting men’s basketball to quarters instead of halves.
“The committee realizes there are hurdles to implementing the quarter format to the game, including the structuring of media timeouts to accommodate commercial inventory,” the NCAA said in a press release.
The committee recommended that NCAA Division I conferences create a joint working group to provide feedback on the potential change from halves to quarters. This feedback was requested by next year to consider a possible rule change at that time.
Other proposals include:
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