More College Basketball News
WATCH: Costly Turnover Against Texas Sums Up Kansas Jayhawks’ Below-Par Season
Kansas Jayhawks Jalen Wilson had a costly turnover in the final seconds which led to a loss for them against the Texas Longhorns.
NCAA Basketball: Teams With the Most Consecutive March Madness Appearances
Click on this link to gain knowledge about which NCAA Division I team has the most successive appearances at the March Madness tournament!
WATCH: Duke Blue Devils Pull Off Audacious Half-Court Alley During Win Over Syracuse Orange
Duke Blue Devils stars Mark Williams and Jordan Goldwire combined to finish an audacious half-court alley-oop against the Syracuse Orange.
Gonzaga Bulldogs Coach Mark Few Reveals Why He is Hesitant to Play in WCC Tournament
Coach Mark Few recently revealed what factors are holding the Gonzaga Bulldogs from participating in the WCC tournament in March.
March Madness: Five of the Greatest Rivalries in College Basketball
There are several intense rivalries that prevail in college basketball, and here are the five greatest ones in terms of history!
WATCH: Bronny James’ Smooth Jump Shot May Foreshadow Success for the 16-Year-Old
SLAM! posted a video of Sierra Canyon point guard Bronny James' shooting form, reminding everyone how pure and natural his jumpshot is.
‘Was Never Invested’- NCAA Analyst Comments On Whether Jalen Johnson Leaving Makes Duke Blue Devils Better
Will the Duke Blue Devils miss the presence of five-star freshman Jalen Johnson while finishing up the season and what went wrong there?
NCAA Basketball: Who are the Top Scorers in March Madness History?
The NCAA Tournament or 'March Madness' has seen plenty of dominant scorers, but who are the players who make the Top 5 list?
RECORD BREAKER: Luka Garza Becomes Iowa Hawkeyes’ New All-Time Leading Scorer
Senior forward Luka Garza became the all-time leading scorer of the Iowa Hawkeyes during their game against the Penn State Nittany Lions.
‘Most Clutch’- NCAA Analyst Compares Luka Garza and Ayo Dosunmu in the Race For Naismith Player of the Year
Luka Garza has been considered the frontrunner in the College Player of the Year race all season long, but is Ayo Dosunmu going to upset him?
Why Michael Jordan Chose To Play For The North Carolina Tar Heels
Michael Jordan had his pick of universities when he was leaving high-school, but why did he choose the North Carolina Tar Heels?
NCAA Basketball: Five Biggest Upsets in March Madness History
The NCAA Division I March Madness tournament has witnessed several massive upsets over the years, and here are the five greatest!
About College Basketball
College Basketball (NCAA): Latest News, Rumors, Schedule, Scores & More
College basketball is the primary path to the NBA for several talented athletes. Upon completing high school, budding basketball players join a university in hopes of shaping their careers professionally.
College basketball is currently governed by a list of collegiate athletic bodies that include National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), and a few other organizations.
What does NCAA stand for?
National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a non-profit organization headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It is one of the primary organizations that govern college athletics for over 1,200 institutions across the United States and Canada.
NCAA stands as an organizer of college tournaments, which helps various students register their talent on a grand stage. Due to the overwhelming number of institutions emerging with respect to basketball and other major sports, the NCAA adopted the three-division structure in 1973.
Thus, there are Divisions I, II, and III that subdivide NCAA College Basketball teams. Moreover, the most enthralling tournament when it comes to college basketball is the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament.
NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament
The NCAA’s Division I Men’s Basketball tournament was founded in 1939 by Ohio State coach Harold Olsen. The tournament is often played during March and hence, it has been branded “March Madness,” a yearly tournament that decides the national college champion!
The single-elimination tournament features 68 of the best college basketball teams from the 32 conferences that comprise NCAA’s Division I. Winners from each conference receive an automatic bid for the tournament, while the other 36 teams are awarded “at-large berths.”
The venues are pre-determined and the competing teams are seeded and split into four regions and organized into a single-elimination bracket. The University of North Carolina has the honor of receiving the most #1 seeds in the tournament with 17 to date.
As the games commence, teams get filtered, which is then followed by “Sweet Sixteen,” “Elite Eight,” and the coveted “Final Four.”
It is a well-structured tournament, as the Final Four teams will each represent one region (East, South, Midwest, and West) to determine the national champion.
Likewise, there is a similar tournament held for women with almost the same structure: 64 teams participate and a special committee will decide the participants for each edition.
Who has the most NCAA Division I titles?
Winning the national title is a daunting task. 64 teams enter the tournament with the same goal in mind, but only one can be crowned champion towards the end. With that said, the UCLA Bruins Men’s Basketball Team has won 11 national titles to date, the most by any school.
UCLA’s most recent victory came in 1995 when the Bruins beat Arkansas Razorbacks. Furthermore, here is a list of the Top 5 teams with the most NCAA Division I championships in history:
School | Titles | Years |
UCLA | 11 | 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1995 |
| Kentucky | 8 | 1948, 1949, 1951, 1958, 1978, 1996, 1998, 2012 |
North Carolina | 6 | 1957, 1982, 1993, 2005, 2009, 2017 |
| Duke | 5 | 1991, 1992, 2001, 2010, 2015 |
Indiana | 5 | 1940, 1953, 1976, 1981, 1987 |
When does the 2020-21 men’s college basketball season start?
The initial dates for the season had to be pushed back due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There are several tournaments that are scheduled to begin in the coming weeks, tentatively. The Division I men’s basketball tournament is scheduled to begin on November 25.
The conferences that comprise the governing bodies organize various tournaments, and the schedules are dropping in with regard to the restrictions that are in place. More information can be found on the NCAA website.
The organization has released the schedule for the highly anticipated “March Madness,” that is set to take place in 2021.
ROUND | DATES |
Selection Sunday | March 14 |
| First Four | March 16-17 |
First Round | March 18-19 |
| Second Round | March 20-21 |
Sweet 16 | March 25-26 |
| Elite Eight | March 27-28 |
Final Four | April 3 |
| National Championship | April 5 |
How college basketball stands out from the NBA
A lot of the aspects remain the same when comparing college basketball and the NBA. However, minor differences set these two leagues apart, which might affect the flow when watching an NBA game versus an NCAA game.
The first difference is that NBA games are played under four quarters of 12 minutes each. But college basketball is just two halves, and each half is 20 minutes long. This reduces the game time by a small margin, but athletes have to endure a longer half.
Moreover, there is also a major difference in the shot clock. The modern shot clock in the NBA is 24 seconds, while the NCAA allows 30 seconds for men’s basketball.
The distance from the three-point line to the backboard differs in the NBA and college basketball as well. The NBA’s three-point line traditionally measures 23 feet 9 inches at the top of the circle and 22 feet in the corners. However, this is not the case when it comes to the NCAA.
Starting from the 2019/20 season, NCAA adopted FIBA’s three-point line measurements which stand at 22 feet, 1¾ inches at the top of the circle, and 21 feet 8 inches at the corners. Besides these, there is a list of rules that differ between the NBA and NCAA. Click here to learn more.
