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NCAA to vote on rule changes to speed up games in April

By Adam Gretz | Last updated 3/3/23

Major League Baseball is not the only sport looking to make significant rule changes to speed up games. The NCAA is also proposing rules that could have a significant impact on the speed of games and how they are played.

According to college football insider Brett McMurphy, the NCAA rules committee is proposing to no longer stop the clock after first downs (except in the last two minutes of each half) and no longer allow teams to take consecutive timeouts.

The proposed changes will be voted on in April.

NCAA Football Rules Committee proposes starting this season, game clock won’t be stopped after a 1st down except for final 2 minutes of each half. Teams also won’t be able to call consecutive time outs. NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel will vote April 20 to make these official
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) March 3, 2023

Current NCAA rules have the clock stop after every first down until the ball is respotted. Removing that during the majority of games would certainly help speed up the games by at least a few minutes, while keeping it in the final two minutes of each half would still give offenses more of an opportunity to put points on the board with limited time to work with.

The timeout change would usually come into play late in games when teams are trying to ice an opposing kicker before a big kick or if they just want additional time to set up for a big play in a meaningful spot.

The average length of an NCAA football game is roughly three hours and 22 minutes, which is typically about 10-15 minutes longer than an NFL game.

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