NCAA Basketball 2023-24 Rules Changes: Block and Charge Calls Could be Easier for Officials

The Women’s Game Planning to Address Flopping Epidemic in Coming season

There is no more difficult rule for a basketball official than the block/charge call. The restricted-area arc was put in place in an attempt to aid the officials in the attempt to get the call right. When looking at the NCAA basketball 2023-24 rules changes, some adjustments are coming.

During the 2023-24 season, a new point of emphasis has been added with the hope of making things clearer for the officials when it comes to the block/charge call in the men’s game.

A defender will need to be in a position to draw an offensive foul by the time the offensive player plants his/her foot to go airborne to attempt a shot.

Before, the defensive player only needed to be in a position to draw the charge before the offensive player went airborne. That led to players sliding under an offensive player and that increased the possibility of injury. It also resulted in so many 50/50 calls when it came to a block or a charge.

The hope is this adjustment will make it more evident whether a call should be a block or a charge.

The women’s game has taken a step to address flopping in the sport. A player will be issued a warning on the first offense when they are called for flopping or embellishment and receive a technical foul on the second infraction. That foul will not count against the player’s total when it comes to fouling out.

One thing that hasn’t changed is that the men’s college basketball game will continue to have two 20-minute periods of action with women’s college basketball having four 10-minute sessions with the fouls resetting at the end of every quarter.

Let’s Go To the Video Tape

The scope of video reviews continues to grow when it comes to the NCAA basketball 2023-24 rules changes.

Officials will be able to review basketball interference calls at the next media timeout if the official originally called for a basketball interference or goaltending violation.

A review will be done immediately if a foul was called just to confirm whether free throws should be awarded.

If a coach requests an out-of-bounds play to be reviewed in the final two minutes and the call is not overturned, that team will lose a timeout.

On the Rebound

The rules committee continues to tinker with what to do on offensive rebounds and now when a ball comes off the rim and remains in the front court, the shot clock will be reset to 20 seconds. The change, part of the NCAA basketball 2023-24 rules changes, closely resembles what is taking place in the NBA and WNBA.

That should increase the possessions and bring more scoring to the game and that is a win-win scenario for everybody involved.

The Numbers Game

There will be no restrictions on the uniform numbers that can be worn by players with numbers 0-99 available to be worn.

There had been limits on the single numbers that could be used to avoid confusion if a foul was whistled against a player wearing No. 6, No. 15, or 51.

Schools will also not have to submit waivers for players to wear religious headwear, as long as is safe for competition.

Another change is that a player will be granted a timeout if they have possession of the ball while airborne. That will come into play if a player has the ball in the air and signals or yells for a timeout before landing out of bounds.

As is the case when new rules or adjusted points of emphasis are passed, the preseason games will be a learning period for players, coaches, and officials. The NCAA schedules will play an even larger emphasis on the exhibition games as all parties get acclimated to how the game is called with the new rules in place.

As for the 2023-24 season, Duke and Kansas are the current front-runners on the men’s side at +1100 when it comes to the NCAA picks followed by Purdue (+1200) while defending national champion UConn is tied with Michigan State and Kentucky at +1600.

Defending national champion Louisiana State (+250) is the favorite on the women’s title odds followed by UConn (+700), Iowa (+800), Utah (+900), Indiana (+1000), and Virginia Tech (+1000).

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