Longtime ESPN analyst Jay Bilas is making a pitch for two major rule changes to college basketball. He wants to see the game switched from halves to quarters, as well as a reconstruction of the sport’s rules on instant replay.
Wednesday night, Bilas was on the call for an SEC clash between Florida and Alabama. Near the end of the game, the ESPN analyst was asked if he’d like to see late-game timeouts result in the ball being advanced to half court — the same rule used in the NBA and women’s college basketball.
Bilas agreed, but that was pretty low on his list of changes college basketball needs to make. He started out by arguing that the men’s game needs to switch from 20-minute halves to 10-minute quarters.
“The rules that need to change — we need to go to quarters,” Bilas said. “We’re the only game of basketball played in the world that doesn’t have quarters. The reason I like it is because you can reset team fouls at the end of the first and third quarters. It’s just a smart thing to do.”
Another rule Bilas would like to see changed — and one we can all probably agree upon — is in regards to officials using replay. Rather than seeing referees walk to the monitor every two minutes, the college basketball analyst believes there should be a challenge system in place, one similar to the NBA.
“We have to change the replay rule. Make it like the NBA, give each team one challenge — if they get their first one right, they keep it for one more and then that’s it,” he said. “The referees — and it’s not their fault, it’s the rule — they spend more time watching TV than they do officiating the game.”
College basketball officiating has come under major scrutiny over the last several years, especially with the use of the replay monitor. Too often, it seems that referees crush any momentum or rhythm in a game because of frequent trips to review a play.
It can also add significant length to games in late-game situations when reviewing the clock, out-of-bounds plays and more.
The push to make college basketball a four-quarter game is probably less of a priority than improving officiating and the replay system, but Bilas makes a good case for both changes.
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