The end of a neck-and-neck college basketball game is supposed to be exciting. But in recent years, too many finishes have been marred by an endless march to the replay monitor by officials.
At long last, college basketball is making an effort to address this problem.
According to a report by college basketball reporter and broadcaster John Fanta, the NCAA is instituting a new rule for the upcoming season that will only allow replay review for an out-of-bounds call with a coaches challenge. Currently, officials can review any out-of-bounds call during the final two minutes of a game. That rule led to an over-reliance from referees on replay review, often slowing games to a halt when they should be at their most exciting.
This is big for college basketball: Officials cannot conduct video review going forward on out-of-bounds calls UNLESS through a coach’s challenge.
NCAA officials can use replay for timing, scoring errors, shot clock violations, 2-point versus 3-point FG attemps, flagrants.
— John Fanta (@John_Fanta) June 10, 2025
Per Fanta, referees will still be able to use replay review for timing, scoring errors, shot clock violations, 2-pointer versus 3-pointer, and flagrant fouls.
It’s unclear exactly how the coach’s challenge will work. But, if it’s anything like the NBA, coaches will only get one challenge per game, which should greatly reduce the number of times a referee goes to the monitor.
Too often, the ends of college basketball games take an inordinate amount of time. The television product will improve substantially if officials conduct fewer replays. Not only will the flow of the game no longer be interrupted as much, but there will be fewer programming overruns that impact games scheduled in back-to-back TV windows.
Hopefully this change generates the expected results, and college hoops fans can watch the last few minutes of a game without wondering if they’ll get to bed within the hour.
