College basketball rule changes
Shorter shot clock
Rule: The shot clock was reduced from 35 to 30 seconds.
Intent: Produce more possessions, and therefore more scoring.
Fewer, faster timeouts
Rules: 1. Teams will have four timeouts instead of five, and can carry only three over to the second half. 2. Officials can issue a delay-of-game warning or even a one-shot technical foul for teams that do not resume play quickly after a timeout.
Intent: Speed up games by reducing delays.
No "double timeouts"
Rule: Timeouts called within 30 seconds of a scheduled TV timeout will now become the TV timeout.
Intent: Eliminate double timeouts that disrupt the flow.
Faster substitutions
Rule: The time to replace a disqualified player was reduced from 20 to 15 seconds.
Intent: Speed up games by reducing delays.
Fighting flops
Rule: Officials may now use video review to penalize players who fake fouls.
Intent: Better address a growing problem (flopping), and to speed up the game by avoiding additional free-throw situations.
Coach timeouts limited
Rule: Coaches can no longer call timeouts when the ball is live (players still can).
Intent: Expand the players' freedom and to prevent interruptions in play.
Firm 10-second rule
Rule: Teams have a maximum of 10 seconds to advance the ball past half court. Timeouts called do not result in another full 10 seconds, as they have in the past.
Intent: Force teams into their offenses quicker and increase possessions.
Less under-the-basket carnage
Rule: The restricted-area arc was expanded from 3 to 4 feet.
Intent: Reduce the number of block/charge calls and reduce collisions at the basket.
AMELIA RAYNO