March Madness: 5 Ways to Improve the College Game

While it may not be a popular opinion, I personally feel the NBA is far more entertaining brand of basketball than the college game. I’m familiar with all the arguments against the professional game–no defense, questionable officiating, overpaid superstars–and I’m not naive enough to argue those elements don’t exist. However, I am firmly attached to the Dallas Mavericks and have no connections to any Division I college basketball program. When the Mavs play, I watch and celebrate when the team fares well and sulk when things go wrong.

Tonight, I watched approximately ten minutes of a college basketball game between Butler and Wright State. It marked the first college basketball game I’ve watched in almost two years. Almost immediately, the warts of the college game became apparent. In observance of March Madness, I thought I would provide a few ideas to improve the college game.

• No Zone Defenses – This is something that drives me crazy about the professional game as well. Zone defenses may be pleasing from a technical standpoint, but they ruin the overall tempo of the game, turning every game into a half court affair. If nothing else, the college game should adopt the NBA policy of a defensive 3-second violation, preventing teams from camping out in the paint.

• Reduce the shot clock – Nothing irritates me more than watching a “four-corners” game develop during the NCAA tournament. Simply put, the shot clock in college basketball is far too long. Twenty-four seconds is more than enough time for a team to advance the ball to the front court and run an offense. The current shot clock actually encourages team to take the air out of the ball.

• Do away with the possession arrow – There is no reason why the college game cannot institute a NBA-like  “jump ball” in situations where the possession arrow is currently used. Simply alternating the possession arrow between teams is unfair.

• No 3-pointers The three point shot encourages jump shooting. Sounds fairly obvious, but for a game that stresses the fundamentals, the college game should embrace the “old school” philosophy of driving the ball to the basket and EARNING three points the real way with a basket and free throw.

• Fewer timeouts It seems like the final 2 minutes of a college game last an eternity because coaches save ALL of their timeouts until that time. Again, the NCAA could learn from the NBA. Limit the amount of timeouts a team can use during the final  2 minutes, maybe one full timeout and one 20 second time out. This would allow a much more organic feel to the game.