Auburn's Bruce Pearl gives his take on the 'halves vs. quarters' debate
One of the biggest debates headlining this offseason of college basketball is the pros and cons of moving to a quarter format over the current format of halves, and Auburn's head man has weighed in.
Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl did not have much to say on the topic during a recent appearance on The Sideline with Andy Katz. Still, he did show favoritism toward switching to quarters by saying he wants the game to be played "just like everybody else."
Men's college basketball is the only entity of college basketball that still plays two halves. NCAA Women's basketball made the switch from halves to quarters before the 2015-16 season, and the NCAA is looking at possibly making the switch, as cited in a recent press release.
'In considering the decisions last month, the NCAA Men's Basketball Committee had conversations about ways to continue this direction in the upcoming years, which includes positive momentum for moving the men's game from halves to quarters,' the NCAA said in a press release. 'The committee realizes there are hurdles to implementing the quarter format to the game, including the structuring of media timeouts to accommodate commercial inventory. The committee recommended NCAA Division I conferences create a joint working group to provide feedback on the potential change from halves to quarters.'
Making the move from halves to quarters would create new game plans for coaches that will include foul trouble and clock management, which could be seen as an issue for some coaches in terms of adapting. The possible change from halves to quarters is the second-largest rule change discussed this offseason. In addition to the game format, the NCAA is exploring ways to allow coaches to challenge several calls, such as out-of-bounds plays and goaltending.
Potential rule changes will be a great topic of offseason discussion and will be worth following as we wait for the season to begin in November.
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