One of the major complaints that some people have about college basketball is that the pace of the game is too slow. Today, the NCAA took a step towards trying to speed up the game by reducing the shot clock from 35 seconds to 30 seconds.
The rule change – which was presented last month – was approved by the NCAA, along with several other rules that were announced in a tweet sent out by @marchmadness.
OFFICIAL! 30-sec shot clock, 4-foot arc, reduction in time outs among changes coming to men's basketball next season. pic.twitter.com/qgLqt0BS6D
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) June 8, 2015
The new rules also pertain to the number of time outs that teams can use in a game, as that goes from five to four. Teams can also carry only three time outs into the second half, which should mean that end of game scenarios will be a bit more fluid and not feature so many stoppages in play.
Also involved in the rule changes are a larger restricted area, as it goes from three feet in size to four feet. According to USA Today, this particular rule change was done to reduce the number of collisions in the low post.
There will be several other less notable rule changes, like the NCAA instituting a six-foul limit for non-NCAA Tournament postseason games in 2016, while dunking during pregame and halftime warm ups will no longer be prohibited.
(via USA Today)
