Time For Quarters

It's March.  Which means the NCAA Tournament is right around the corner.  And, with conference tournaments set to begin, all eyes will turn to college basketball.  And, if this year's NCAA Tournament games are anything like recent seasons, they'll seem interminable.  The amount of replay reviews, especially at the end of games, are out of control, and they make games take forever when they really don't need to.

Jay Bilas lamented the abundance of replays during a game last night and acknowledged that there isn't really anything that can be done.  At least not right now.  The rules permit reviews either requested by the coaches or called by the officials themselves for any number of reasons, mainly clock situations or out of bounds plays, but also potential shot clock violations, whether a basket was a three or a two, and a number of others.  It's a great tool to get the call right, but Bilas thinks officials have become too reliant on the use of replay.  Especially at the end of games.

Bilas suggested a system similar to the one used in the NBA.  Coaches get one challenge per game.  If it's successful, they keep it.  If it's not, that's it.  Now, I'm not sure how effective that would be at the college level since most of the replay stoppages are administrative in nature and that likely wouldn't change.  Even if coaches had challenges, the officials would still stop the game and go to the monitor in those big moments, completely killing the pace of the game.  As those reviews add up, so does the amount of time wasted with everyone just standing around not playing basketball at the end of games.

And let's not forget that NCAA Tournament games are already longer because there are more commercials.  Which means media timeouts are longer.  Then you throw in all of the replay reviews and extra commercials at random 30-second timeouts, and the chances of an NCAA Tournament game taking two hours (the time actually allotted) are slim to none.  Slightly over two hours is considered short, and most games tend to be closer to two and a half hours.

Another topic Bilas touched on was moving the ball into the frontcourt after a timeout in the last minute.  They can advance the ball in NCAA women's basketball (which can make the last minute of those games painfully long...especially when teams save all their timeouts for the end), as well as in the NBA and internationally.  It's only in NCAA men's games where teams have to go the length of the court regardless.

The jury's still out on advancing the ball.  There are plenty of people who are for it, while there are just as many who like things the way they are.  If they want to get the ball into the frontcourt, make them earn it.  So, it seems unlikely there's enough support for a change.

However, there's another area where NCAA men's basketball is long overdue for a change.  It's beyond time to go to quarters.  The NCAA went to four quarters in women's games a decade ago, and they play four quarters in high school, the NBA and internationally.  It's literally only NCAA men's games that are still two halves.  It's past time to change that and have the college men's game match up with the way basketball is played everywhere else.

This was brought up a few years ago the last time the men were up for a new rules cycle, but they ultimately decided to stick with two 20-minute halves.  I would imagine it'll be revisited the next time men's rules are up for review (which I think is this offseason).  Whether it's changed or not is a different question.  Because I think, like advancing the ball, there are plenty of people who like things the way they are.

Count CBS and Turner among those who prefer the status quo.  And their reason for doing so is actually fairly simple.  With two halves, there are four media timeouts per half and an extra one in the second half.  That's nine media timeouts total.  In women's games, they only have one media timeout per quarter, plus the break between quarters.  Throw in the extra media timeout in the second half and that's seven total.  CBS and Turner obviously like having those two additional timeouts because that's two more commercial breaks.

There's no question that the strategy is very different with halves opposed to quarters, too.  The four media timeouts divide each half nicely into four-minute segments.  Women's games, meanwhile, are four five-minute segments, but those segments can end up being significantly longer if there's a timeout called.  And the women have two end-of-quarter situations that the men don't, as well as the alternate possession to start the second and fourth quarters.  In a close game, that could end up really mattering.

Perhaps the most significant difference between the men's halves and the women's quarters, though, is the fouls.  Once again, this is an area where men's college basketball is unique.  The college men are the only ones who still have the one-and-one.  The women haven't had it since they went to quarters.  Instead, it's straight to two shots on the fifth team foul.  Not having the one-and-one has made a huge impact on women's games.  Likewise, the men having it definitely makes an impact.  Especially when the front end of a one-and-one is missed.

That's the biggest reason why Bilas would like to see the men switch to quarters.  Not because he wants to eliminate the one-and-one, but because he'd like to see the team fouls reset at the end of each quarter.  There have been plenty of games where a team picks up seven fouls fairly early and their opponent is shooting free throws the rest of the half (another thing that makes games longer).  Going to quarters would allow them to go to five team fouls per quarter, which has worked well in women's games.

Most importantly, playing quarters instead of halves would match up with how basketball is played literally everywhere else in the world.  A good number of these players will end up going professional, whether it's in the NBA, the G-League or overseas.  Many of them have and/or will play internationally.  All of those games are quarters.  So, playing quarters in the NCAA would make for less of an adjustment to playing quarters at those other levels.

While there seems to be some agreement between fans, media members and even a number of coaches and players about a preference for quarters, I'm not optimistic the NCAA will actually make the change.  At least not right away.  There are too many purists out there who like halves, and we know TV needs a certain amount of commercial time (although, when they went to quarters, the women went to longer media timeouts to make up the difference).  I do think it'll happen somewhere along the line, though.  Cooler heads will eventually prevail, the NCAA will make the smart move, and men's games will be the same as women's games.  Four 10-minute quarters.  Not two 20-minute halves.