NCAAM Potential Rules Changes

[so cal lurker]

Originally Posted by Altor

Didn't they try the "held ball goes to the defense" rule several years ago?

It seems to me that it went over so well that there was a movement among coaches to get the rule rescinded mid-season.

As I recall, the rule was inspired by an NCAA tournament game (when alternating possession was fairly new) in which Stanford made a great defensive play while trying to come back in the final seconds, only to have the alternating possession go the other way, effectively ending the game. (Quite long back--I believe in the Mark Madsen era at Stanford.)

And yes, as I recall, the result was a mess--particularly where there was a defender grabbed the ball away (thereby instantly becoming the attacker) and the person who lost the ball (now the defender) forced a held ball. As I recall, the rule was one-and-done.

If we really hate the impact of alternating possession arrow in end game (which I do), a better path would be to either abolish it entirely or go back to jump balls in the final two minutes.