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college basketball

College basketball most often refers to the American basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Basketball in the NCAA is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III.

Division I

There are 341 schools in 31 Division I basketball conferences. Each conference, except for the newly formed Great West Conference, receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship. The conferences are as follows:

America East Conference

Atlantic 10 Conference

Atlantic Coast Conference

Atlantic Sun Conference

Colonial Athletic Association

Conference USA

Great West Conference

Horizon League

Ivy League

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference

Mid-American Conference

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference

Missouri Valley Conference

Mountain West Conference

Northeast Conference

Ohio Valley Conference

Pacific 10 Conference

Patriot League

Southeastern Conference

Southern Conference

Southland Conference

Southwestern Athletic Conference

Sun Belt Conference

The Summit League

West Coast Conference

Western Athletic Conference

There are also (as of 2008) five independent Division I schools without conference affiliation.

Division II

There are 23 Division II basketball conferences. The conferences are as follows:

California Collegiate Athletic Association

Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference

Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association

Conference Carolinas

East Coast Conference

Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

Great Lakes Valley Conference

Great Northwest Athletic Conference

Gulf South Conference

Heartland Conference

Lone Star Conference

Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association

North Central Conference

Northeast Ten Conference

Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference

Pacific West Conference

Peach Belt Conference

Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference

Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference

South Atlantic Conference

Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

Sunshine State Conference

West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

Relationship to professional basketball

In past decades, the NBA held to tradition and drafted players who had graduated from college. This was a mutually beneficial relationship for the NBA and colleges—the colleges held onto players who would otherwise go professional, and the NBA did not have to fund a minor league. As the college game became commercialized, though, it became increasingly difficult for "student athletes" to be students. Specifically, a growing number of poor, under-educated, highly talented teenage basketball players found the system exploitative—they brought in funds to schools where they learned little and played without income.

The American Basketball Association began to employ players whose college classes had not yet graduated. After a season of junior college, a season at the University of Detroit, and an Olympic gold medal, Spencer Haywood played the 1969-70 season with the ABA's Denver Rockets. He signed with the NBA's Seattle SuperSonics in 1970, before his college class graduation, defying NBA rules. Haywood pleaded that, as his family's sole wage earner, he should be allowed to earn a living in the NBA or else his family would face destitution. The ensuing legal battle went to the U.S. Supreme Court which ruled in 1971 that the NBA does not have the same antitrust exemption enjoyed by Major League Baseball. Thereafter, collegiate players demonstrating economic hardship were allowed early entry into the NBA Draft. The hardship requirement was eliminated in 1976.

In 1974, Moses Malone joined the Utah Stars of the ABA (now merged with the NBA) straight out of high school and went on to a Hall of Fame career. The past 30 years have seen a remarkable change in the college game. The best international players routinely skip college entirely, many American stars skip college (Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady, Amare Stoudemire and LeBron James) or only play one year (Carmelo Anthony), and only a dozen or so college graduates are now among the 60 players selected in the annual NBA Draft. Fewer high schoolers will progress directly to the NBA without at least one year of college basketball beginning in 2006; citing maturity concerns after several incidents involving young players, the labor agreement between players and owners now specifies that players must turn 19 years of age during the calendar year of the draft to be eligible. Additionally, U.S. players must be at least one year removed from their high school graduation.

The pervasiveness of college basketball throughout the nation, the large population of graduates from "major conference" universities, and the NCAA's marketing of "March Madness" (officially the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship), have kept the college game alive and well. Some commentators have argued that the higher turnover of players has increased the importance of good coaches. Many teams have been highly successful, for instance, by emphasizing personality in their recruiting efforts, with the goal of creating a cohesive group that, while lacking stars, plays together for all 4 years and thus develops a higher level of sophistication than less stable teams could achieve.

Distinctions with NBA play

The NCAA Men's Basketball Rules Committee, consisting of coaches from all three divisions of the NCAA, sets the rules for college men's basketball play. Although many of the NBA rules apply in NCAA play, there are differences that make NCAA play unique.

An NCAA game is divided into two halves, each 20 minutes long, while NBA games are played in four quarters of 12 minutes each. The NCAA shot clock gives a team 35 seconds to shoot while the NBA's shot lock gives teams 24 seconds. Also, NCAA teams are allowed ten seconds to move the ball past half court, while NBA rules allow only eight.

Though the height of the basket, the foul line's distance from the backboard, and the court dimensions are the same, the distance between the three point line and the backboard is different. The NBA three point line measures , or 22 feet (6.7 m) in the corners. On the NCAA court, the three point line is a constant , although the NCAA Rules Committee voted in May 2007 to extend it a foot more to , which will become effective from the 2008–09 season. The NCAA lane measures in width, while the NBA lane is .

NCAA players are allowed five personal fouls before fouling out, as opposed to their NBA counterparts, who are allowed six. The number of team fouls allotted is also different. In both NBA and NCAA games, team fouls can be categorized as shooting or non-shooting. A shooting foul occurs when a player gets fouled in the act of shooting, giving him the chance to shoot free throws. A non-shooting foul consists of all other fouls, including making contact with the opposing player while "reaching in" to steal the ball.

A team may make a certain number of non-shooting fouls per period before the opposing team is awarded free throws. In the NBA, the fifth team foul in a quarter places the team in penalty. For every foul after the fifth, whether it's shooting or non-shooting, gives the opposing team two free throws. In the NCAA, the penalty begins after the seventh team foul in a half. However, the fouled player must make the first free throw in order to get the second. This is called a "one and one" or "one and the bonus" situation. After the tenth team foul, the "double bonus" situation comes into play, meaning that every subsequent team foul results in two free throws for the opposing team.

When a dispute over ball possession arises, the jump ball is used in the NBA. In the NCAA, no jump ball occurs after the opening tip. Since 1981, a possession arrow on the scorer's table has dictated which team should possess the ball, with the arrow switching directions after each use.

In addition, the NBA limits what types of defense a team can play, primarily in an effort to prevent coaches from slowing down the pace of the game by using zone defenses. In NCAA basketball, no such rules exist, and coaches are free to design a variety of defensive techniques.

Other divisions

While less commercialized than Division I, Division II and Division III are both highly successful college basketball organizations. Women's Division I is often televised, but to smaller audiences than Men's Division I. Generally, small colleges join Division II, while colleges of all sizes that choose not to offer athletic scholarships join Division III. D-II and D-III games, understandably, are almost never televised, although CBS televises the Championship Final of Division II, while CBS College Sports Network televises the semifinals as well as the Division III Final.

The NAIA also sponsors men and women's college level basketball. The NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship has been held annually since 1937 (with the exception of 1944), when it was established by James Naismith to crown a national champion for smaller colleges and universities. Unlike the NCAA Tournament, the NAIA Tournament features only 32 teams, and the entire tournament is contested in one week instead of three weekends. Since 2002 the NAIA National Tournament has been played in Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. (From 1994-2001 it was held in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and from 1937-1993 it was held at Municipal then Kemper Arena in Kansas City).

Since 1992, the NAIA has sponsored a Division II championship, similar to the NCAA Division I and II.

The only school to have won national titles in both the NAIA and NCAA Division I is Louisville; the Cardinals have also won the NIT title. Southern Illinois has won NAIA and NIT titles. Central Missouri and Fort Hays State have won NAIA and NCAA Division II national titles.

External links

NCAA Basketball Statistics

NAIA Men's Basketball

Statistics and Analysis

College Basketball & Sport Rankings

CHN College Basketball

Division II Basketball

Pistol Pete Maravich Video and Film Clips from LSU

Division III Basketball

Hoops Writers College Basketball

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College Basketball
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