May 31, 2006 2 min read

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – The NCAA will allow a football coach to challenge one ruling by officials per game and have it reviewed by replay, provided his team has an available timeout. Under a proposal approved Tuesday by the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel, if a coach’s challenge is successful, no timeout will be charged.

“This revised proposal achieves the intended result of the rules committee to incorporate a challenge into the video replay system,” panel chairman John Cochrane said.

The NCAA allowed the use of video replays at all schools and conferences last season, and nine of the 11 Division I-A conferences used some form of replay. The revision to include the challenge by coaches was proposed by the Football Rules Committee.

The panel also approved a revision of the rule on the length of halftime in football. The recommended time is 20 minutes, but it may be lengthened or shortened with the consent of both schools.

Among basketball proposals, the panel approved a requirement that Division II and Division III schools have game clocks that display 10ths of a second and shot clocks mounted on backboards, starting with the 2010-11 season

“The panel’s main concern with this change was financial, and the group is comfortable that the rules committees have provided plenty of time to plan and budget for this important aspect of the game,” Cochrane said.

A proposal barring a player from calling a timeout while falling out of bounds or into the backcourt also was approved.

No further action is required for any of the proposals.