It’s the offseason for college basketball, but that doesn’t mean there hasn’t been any controversy. In particular, there’s been a growing debate surrounding playing two halves or four quarters. Now Auburn Tigers head coach Bruce Pearl has joined the conversation, sharing his thoughts.
While being interviewed by Andy Katz on The Sideline, Pearl shared that he prefers quarters over halves. After all, that’s how the game is played at every other level.
“Quarters,” Bruce Pearl said. “Just like everybody else.”
Pearl didn’t expand on his reasoning beyond that. Part of that might have been because Andy Katz asked him for a rapid-fire answer, though. Still, to his point, basketball is played in a four-quarter format in the NBA, in high school, and even in women’s college basketball. Women’s basketball made the switch back in the 2015-16 season. So, men playing two halves does remain an odd outlier.
This growing concern over halves and quarters stems from a recent NCAA press release. In it, the NCAA was announcing some changes to help with the flow of the game. Among those changes was the move to allow coaches to challenge and review out-of-bounds calls and goaltending or basket interference. However, deeper inside that press release was an interesting note about the halves and quarters format.
The NCAA has since announced that there’s been “positive momentum” toward the switch. Bruce Pearl, seemingly, is a good example of that momentum now. The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel also recommended that Division I conferences actually develop a working group to provide further feedback on the option.
“In considering the decisions last month, the NCAA Men’s Basketball Committee had conversations about ways to continue this direction in the upcoming years, which includes positive momentum for moving the men’s game from halves to quarters,” the NCAA’s press release read. “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 committee recommended NCAA Division I conferences create a joint working group to provide feedback on the potential change from halves to quarters.”
For many coaches, this would be a massive change. In particular, they’d have to adjust to a new system as it relates to clock management. For some, that may be more difficult than others. Still, if Bruce Pearl, who has been in college coaching since 1982 and has been a head coach since 1992, wants the change, then he is probably confident that he can adjust just fine. After a trip to the Final Four, of course, it’s easy to be confident.
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