The NCAA News - News and Features

August 18, 1997

Basketball to experiment with four-quarter format

The NCAA Men's and Women's Basketball Rules Committees has approved the use of an experimental four-quarter format for exempted men's and women's basketball contests that occur before December 1, 1997.

The format, designed to address the length of contests -- particularly the flow of the game during the waning minutes -- will be part of an experimental rules package used during such events as the men's and women's Preseason National Invitation Tournaments, the Great Alaska Shootout and the Maui Invitational.

The format, approved August 1, provides for four 10-minute quarters with stoppages at the six- and three-minute marks. Each team will be allowed one full timeout per quarter; however, those timeouts will be incorporated into the breaks at the six- and three-minute marks.

For example, if neither team has called a timeout by the six-minute mark of the first quarter, that stoppage will be assessed to the home team. Similarly, if neither team has called a timeout by the three-minute mark, that stoppage would be assessed to the visiting team. That procedure would be used for all quarters.

In addition to the full timeouts, each team would be allotted four 30-second timeouts -- two in each half -- with one that could be carried over to the second half.

The format would then dictate that by the three-minute mark of the fourth quarter, neither team would have any full timeouts left and no more than three 30-second timeouts apiece.

The committees adopted the format as part of a longitudinal study that will be used to determine the best method of addressing issues related to the flow of the game in the waning minutes. Data from these exempted contests will be available for further review during the committees' annual meeting in June 1998.

"The committees acknowledge the need to reduce the delays in the last few minutes of games," said Laurence C. Keating Jr., former athletics director at Seton Hall University and chair of the Men's Basketball Rules Committee. "While the data from this pool of games will be valuable to the committee for comparison, it should be stressed that this experimental format does not necessarily mean that dividing all games into four quarters is the best way to address the issue."

Currently, in games involving electronic media, teams are allowed two full timeouts and three 20-second timeouts each in addition to four television stoppages per half.

Men's collegiate basketball contests have been conducted in two 20-minute halves in all seasons except for 1951-52, 1952-53 and 1953-54, when games were played in 10-minute quarters. Women's contests have been conducted in two 20-minute halves since the NCAA began sponsoring women's basketball in the 1981-82 season.

The four-quarter format is part of an experimental rules package that was approved in June by the NCAA Special Events Committee, which certifies exempted NCAA events.

Experimentation in exempted basketball contests was approved when the NCAA Council in January stipulated that all exempted basketball contests certified by the Special Events Committee use experimental rules designated by the Men's and Women's Basketball Rules Committees upon approval of the Special Events Committee.

Another experimental rule previously approved for men's and women's exempted basketball events is limiting to five the number of players allowed to occupy the free-throw lane-space marks during an attempted free throw. The defensive team must by rule occupy the two lane-space marks nearest the basket. It has the option of filling one additional spot, while the offensive team has the option to occupy two lane-space marks.

Men's events also will experiment with a 40-second shot clock.

Exempted men's basketball events that will use the experimental rules are the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic; the Black Coaches Association Classic; the Carrs Great Alaska Shootout; the Chase Preseason NIT; the City Bank/Aloha Airlines Big Island Invitational; the Maui Invitational; the NABC Classic; the Puerto Rico Shootout; the Saskatchewan Dance; the Top of the World Classic; and the United Airlines Tip-Off Tournament.

Exempted women's events are the Aloha Classic; the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic; the Preseason NIT, the State Farm Women's Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic; and The First Four.