College basketball has some quirks that even longtime fans occasionally need a refresher on, and the way the game is structured in terms of time is one of the most commonly misunderstood. Whether you are filling out a March Madness bracket or just trying to follow along, knowing how the clock works matters more than people realize.
How the Clock and Game Format Work in College Basketball
Men’s college basketball does not use quarters. It uses two halves, each 20 minutes long, for a total of 40 minutes of regulation play. There are no quarters in men’s college basketball, which makes it stand out from virtually every other level of the game.
The NBA plays four 12-minute quarters, high school basketball uses four 8-minute quarters, and FIBA competition runs four 10-minute quarters.
Men’s college basketball is the only form of the sport played at a visible level anywhere in the world that still uses halves.
Women’s college basketball is a different story entirely. The women’s game switched to a four-quarter format back in the 2015-16 season, with each quarter lasting 10 minutes. That still adds up to 40 minutes of regulation, the same as the men’s game, but the structure is completely different.
This put women’s college basketball in line with the WNBA and FIBA.
Halftime in both the men’s and women’s games lasts 15 minutes. In the men’s game, the break between the two halves is the only extended stop in regulation. In women’s basketball, the breaks between the first and second quarters and between the third and fourth quarters are significantly shorter at 75 seconds, while halftime between the second and third quarters remains the full 15 minutes.
Overtime works the same way for both sides. If a game is tied at the end of regulation, teams play an additional 5-minute period.
If it is still tied after that, they play another 5 minutes, and so on until someone wins. There is a 1-minute intermission before each overtime period begins.
One area where the format difference shows up in a meaningful way is foul tracking. In men’s basketball, team fouls reset at halftime, so a team that racked up fouls in the first half starts clean in the second. In women’s basketball, team fouls reset after each quarter, giving coaches more flexibility and generally preventing games from bogging down in free-throw attempts late in a period.
Media timeouts are also structured differently between the two games. On the men’s side, there are four designated media timeouts per half, typically called at the first stoppage after the 16-minute, 12-minute, 8-minute, and 4-minute marks of each half. In the women’s game, the end of each quarter essentially serves as a built-in media timeout, reducing some of the extra stoppages that slow the men’s game.
The question of whether men’s college basketball should switch to quarters has been a genuine debate for years, and it picked up real momentum heading into the 2025-26 season. The NCAA Men’s Basketball Committee confirmed there was growing support for the change and recommended that Division I conferences form a working group to evaluate it. The main obstacle is not really philosophical.
It comes down to media contracts and how commercial breaks would be structured across four shorter quarters instead of two longer halves.
UCLA head coach Mick Cronin has been outspoken in his skepticism, arguing that television obligations make a switch essentially impossible in the short term. Northwestern’s Chris Collins has pushed hard in the other direction, pointing out that men’s college basketball is genuinely the only game in the world that still clings to halves.
As of the 2025-26 season, no switch had been officially approved, and the men’s tournament is still being played with the traditional two-half format.
The shot clock is set at 30 seconds for both the men’s and women’s college games, which is slower than the NBA’s 24-second clock and gives teams a bit more time to work within the structure of their offense. That extra 6 seconds may not sound like much, but it adds up over the course of a 40-minute game and contributes to the deliberate, half-court style of college basketball compared to the pro game.
For anyone watching the 2026 NCAA Tournament, the bottom line is straightforward: men’s games run in two 20-minute halves, while women’s games run in four 10-minute quarters.
Both go to 5-minute overtime periods as needed. And if the NCAA ever switches to quarters on the men’s side, it would be one of the biggest structural changes the sport has seen in decades.
2026 NCAA Men’s National Championship Game Preview: UConn vs. Michigan
What to Expect From the UConn Huskies
What the Huskies are trying to do is nothing short of historic. Winning three national titles in four years will put them in rarified air and cement Dan Hurley as one of the greatest coaches in modern basketball history.
The most-recent obstacle in their path was a No. 3-seeded Illinois team that had been one of the most consistent squads in the entire tournament. But a balanced attack from the Huskies proved too much for the Fighting Illini.
UConn was once again led by Tarris Reed Jr., who finished the game with 17 points and 11 boards. Braylon Mullins chipped in 15, including another critical 3-pointer after his exploits helped UConn pull off a miraculous comeback win against Duke in the Elite Eight.
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Strong inside play and a tough defensive effort helped guide them to the national championship game, as they held the Illini to 62 points on the night. Now, they will attempt to win their seventh national title in program history.
It would also mark the third championship win for Hurley, who would become the only active Division I men’s basketball head coach with more than two titles to his name.
What to Expect From the Michigan Wolverines
With two No. 1 seeds colliding, it would have been fair for fans to assume that they were tuning in for a classic in the Final Four clash between Michigan and Arizona. Instead, what they got was a one-sided beatdown from the Wolverines.
Taking an early lead, they dominated their way to a 91-73 victory over the Wildcats and it never felt particularly close. However, for the Wolverines, the night may not have been complete euphoria, as they walked away with a significant injury.
Yaxel Lendeborg, who’s already earned an All-American spot and has made a case for himself to be the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament, came away with a sprained ankle and injured knee after landing on a defender’s foot.
While he was still able to add 11 points in 14 minutes and he’s expected to play tonight, it remains to be seen if he’s hobbled or on a minute restriction. Fortunately for Michigan, the Wolverines have an extremely balanced offensive attack and became the first team in NCAA Tournament history to eclipse 90 points five times.
A double-digit lead less than six minutes into the game sold the story of the game, as Arizona couldn’t get anything going on offense. Eventually, the Wolverines were able to slam the door shut.
Now, they walk into the national championship game trying to prevent history as they face another battle-tested group in UConn.
