College basketball is going to look a lot different next season.
The NCAA playing rules oversight panel made several rule changes for the upcoming season, including a couple that could impact bettors who bet on totals.
The most drastic change: the panel approved a deeper 3-point line to match international rules. The 3-point line will now reach 22 feet, 1 ¾ inches at the top of the key. The previous distance was 20 feet, nine inches.
Moving the line back could make it slightly more difficult to make threes, but the biggest impact will be on floor spacing. With defenses now required to guard more space along the perimeter, scoring against zone defenses should be an easier proposition.
Teams who participated in the 2019 NIT have already earned some experience with this deeper 3-point line. There was a small regression in field goal percentage from beyond the arc — 35.2 percent to 33 percent — according to the press release.
There will also be a change in the shot clock for next season. The shot clock will now reset to 20 seconds — instead of 30 — following an offensive rebound. This is similar to a recent change in the NBA shot clock, which saw a reset to 14 seconds after an offensive board.
The panel cited pace of play for this change, which was also an experimental rule change for the 2019 NIT.
A new rule that will require officials to assess a technical foul if a player uses derogatory language was also approved. The rule covers language about “an opponent’s race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, gender expression, gender identity, sexual orientation or disability.”
Lastly, coaches will now be able to call live-ball timeouts in the last two minutes of the second half or in any overtime period. Previously, only players could call live-ball timeouts.
Several of these rule changes are likely to impact totals, especially early in the season as players, coaches, officials and oddsmakers adjust to the new rules.