NIT to experiment with new rules this season
— -- The National Invitation Tournament will experiment with four rule changes for this year's event, the NCAA announced Tuesday.
They include:
• A deeper 3-point line. It will be moved back approximately 20 inches to the distance used by FIBA in international competition (22 feet, 1.75 inches).
• A wider free throw lane. It will be extended from 12 to 16 feet, which is used in the NBA.
• Quarters, not halves. The game will still have 40 minutes of game clock, but it will be broken into four 10-minute quarters, which was adopted for the women's college game in 2015. For each quarter, two free throws are awarded once a team reaches five fouls.
• After an offensive rebound, the shot clock will reset to 20 seconds, as opposed to the full 30.
Permanent rule changes to the sport cannot be made until the current two-year cycle ends in May 2019.
"The style of play in men's college basketball is healthy and appealing, but the leadership governing the game is interested in keeping the playing rules contemporary and trending favorably," Dan Gavitt, NCAA senior vice president of basketball, said in a statement.
"Experimenting with two significant court dimension rules, a shot-clock reset rule and a game-format rule all have some level of support in the membership, so the NIT will provide the opportunity to gather invaluable data and measure the experience of the participants."
The NIT begins March 13 and concludes with the championship at Madison Square Garden in New York City on March 29.
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