NCAA Basketball Rule Changes & Proposals

College Basketball is evolving.Small changes to the rules governing the game occur yearly with minimal impact or relevance into a fan's mind until an esoteric situation happens involving their team.

The NCAA Basketball Rules Committee is currently meeting and according to CBS Sports, here are some of the issues they are considering.

• Changing the shot clock to 30 seconds from 35. According to Jeff Goodman, this proposed rule is losing momentum. Those in favor of this idea claim a sense that since scoring is dropping off it is due to slower play, not poorer offense.
• The Automatic Flagrant Foul Rule could be updated to grant officials "A measure of discretion" in granting more prejudice in how it is called.
• Offensive players will get a benefit of an amendment to the existing Block/Charge Rule. It is nuanced in that defenders would have to "establish legal guarding position before the player leaves the ground" in order to be able to draw a charge.
• Hand-Checking and Blocking Cutters will be emphasized and given consistent guidelines across all conferences. Theoretically, this would make the game more "free-flowing".

Additionally, the NCAA has already announced that the pre-season is getting longer and Midnight Madness can occur earlier. Practice can now begin 6 weeks in advance of the first game. However, teams may only practice on 30 of those 42 days. Previously, teams were allowed to start practice "at 5 p.m. on the Friday closest to October 15th."