The 2023-24 men’s college basketball season is here. And while the season’s opening month is loaded with marquee matchups and intriguing story lines, much of the sports-watching world won’t notice or even think about college hoops until March.
That’s a problem the men’s game has dealt with for years, and there’s a reason for that. In a jam-packed sports schedule (NFL, NBA, college football and NHL all going on), college hoops struggles to compete. And I get it: Why watch college basketball when the NBA is a better viewing experience?
Well, we’re here to help.
Though the opening weekend of the NCAA tournament is perfect, men’s college basketball could make several changes that would instantly make the overall game better for everyone.
1
BAN CHARGES
One of the main differences between the NBA and college basketball is how the two games are officiated. And in college basketball, you have officials rewarding players for sliding in front of a driving player. It makes no sense.
In a perfect world, the NCAA would eliminate the ability for a secondary defender to draw an offensive foul. If you slide in front of a driving player, it’s a flagrant-one foul. After all, it’s a dangerous play and not legitimate defending. It would take away the guessing game refs go through with block/charges (and they’re terrible at it), and you’d no longer reward a player for not playing defense.
Tari Eason was just so out of control here…. Seriously this is maybe the worst charge call I’ve seen in my life lol pic.twitter.com/l8n57ueHkB
— Bobby Douglas (@bobbydouglas21) March 3, 2022
Like, what are we doing here? It makes the game unwatchable.
Elbows, push-offs and moving screens can remain offensive fouls, but otherwise get rid of charges.
2
Shorten the shot clock
The men’s game doesn’t have the quarter system that the NBA and women’s game have. So, you’re looking at eight fewer minutes of game time with a longer shot clock.
Both FIBA and the NBA use a 24-second shot clock, and college basketball should follow suit.
It’s all about making the game more exciting for viewers. More possessions means more shots. It should increase scoring and give star players a bigger opportunity to break through.
I think a 24-second clock will come to college hoops eventually, but it should have happened years ago.
3
Advance the ball to midcourt on timeouts
The NBA has this for the final two minutes, and college basketball would benefit from a similar rule (maybe just the final minute). But instead of forcing teams to run the length of a court to get a late shot up, just advance the ball to midcourt.
Rules that increase the chance of a buzzer-beating shot make for a more compelling product. College basketball should want that.
4
Play the Final Four in basketball arenas
Now, this one will never happen, but I can dream.
We need to stop playing the Final Four and national title game in a football stadium and move these games back to basketball arenas.
I know it’s about money and maximizing ticket sales, but outside of that, playing in a football stadium is really illogical. You have teams play an entire season in basketball arenas. The NCAA holds the earlier rounds of the tournament in basketball arenas. And then for the biggest games of the season, the NCAA is like, “Congrats on reaching the Final Four. Now go play basketball in a completely different environment!”
It’s silly. Depth perception becomes a challenge for teams, which often leads to poor shooting performances. There are almost no good seats in the stadium, and the games don’t look great on TV either.
Again, money outweighs everything here for the NCAA. But these are the biggest games of the season. Shouldn’t you want them to be played in an environment that these teams are accustomed to?
5
Start the national title game at a reasonable hour
This is an issue every single year.
Fans are ready to tune in for the national title game only to see that the tipoff is set for 9:20 p.m. Eastern Time on a Monday night. Like, why?
We know the two fan bases with a rooting interest will stick it out for the entire game, but everyone else is faced with the choice of keep watching (and be exhausted on a Tuesday) or go to sleep.
The Super Bowl starts before 7 p.m. Eastern Time. Monday Night Football kicks off at 8:20 p.m. Eastern Time. The NBA Finals start at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time on weeknights. Why is the NCAA starting games after 9 p.m.?
Move that tipoff time up an hour already. It shouldn’t be this complicated.
