Syracuse Basketball: New changes are coming to improve the 'flow' of men's basketball

NCAA officials want to enhance the flow of the men's game for Syracuse basketball and its peers around the country.

According to an announcement, the NCAA's Playing Rules Oversight Panel has approved some changes that, personally speaking, I like and will discuss in this column. One key change centers on a coach's challenge at any point during a contest to "review out-of-bounds calls, basket interference/goaltending and whether a secondary defender was in the restricted-area arc."

Amen to that change.

Per the press release, the NCAA panel has also given the green light to modifications regarding a rule on "continuous motion on field goal attempts."

Syracuse basketball and its peers are seeing rule changes to their sport.

Pertaining to the coach's challenge rule, a team must possess a timeout to request an instant replay review. If that review challenge is successful, the team can have one additional video replay challenge for the game's duration, and that also includes overtime.

If the first video review challenge is unsuccessful, the team loses the ability to challenge the rest of the game. The NCAA added that a coach's challenge doesn't affect officials' "voluntary use" of instant replay on clock timing or scoring errors, shot clock violations, whether a field goal is a two-pointer or a three-pointer, flagrant fouls and other items.

Officials may initiate video reviews on issues surrounding goaltending, basket interference and the restricted area during the last two minutes of encounters as well as overtime. However, and this is important, experts say: "Officials cannot conduct video review on out-of-bounds calls unless through a coach's challenge."

There is also "positive momentum" on discussions for moving the men's game from two halves to four quarters, which is what the women's game uses, along with the NBA. It is recommended that Division I conferences develop a "joint working group" to further provide feedback on the potential transfer to quarters.

Check out the statement from the NCAA for several additional rule changes that have been approved by the panel, such as the continuous motion rule, flagrant one and flagrant two fouls, a player using the rim to gain an edge, and when a shot clock becomes inoperable.

Per his X page, a talking point from ESPN writer Jeff Borzello: "Coach’s challenges — at any point in the game — are coming to college basketball. ... And, more importantly, 'Officials cannot conduct video review on out-of-bounds calls unless through a coach's challenge.' The final two minutes of a game will no longer take 20 minutes. In theory."

Well said, Jeff.