Rules: NCAA men
Edition on file: 2026-27 Men’s Rules Book (August 2026).
Text status: on-file.
Document: NCAA Men’s Basketball Rules Book, retrieved 2026-09-21.
The full rules book PDF, extracted with pypdf: 52,321 words. Sentence-ending periods extract as a replacement character, so quoted fragments stop at the last word of a sentence. The restricted-area arc’s radius is stated in Rule 1-8; the court diagram is an image and is not quoted.
All five compared · NBA · NCAA women · FIBA · NFHS (US high school).
The floor and spacing
Restricted area
The half-circle in front of the rim inside which a secondary defender cannot draw a charge. Entry.
A semicircle of 4-foot radius from the center of the basket, extended straight to the front face of the backboard. Rule 1-8
Verbatim: “The restricted-area arc is a solid single-colored 2-inch line formed by a semicircle measured from the center of the basket to the inside edge with a radius of 4 feet and extending in a straight line to the front face of the backboard”.
Transition defense
Transition take foul
A deliberate foul on the ball early in a break to stop the play before the numbers advantage can be used. Entry.
No such rule; checked against NCAA Men’s Basketball Rules Book.
The text was searched for the phrases take foul, transition, fast break and clear path; no transition-specific foul exists. The nearest provision is the flagrant 1 definition (Rule 4-15.2), which lists, verbatim, “Contact with an opponent that is not a legitimate attempt to play the ball or player”.
Rules and regulations
Backcourt count
The time a team has to bring the ball across the midcourt line; the count a press is built to run out. Entry.
10 seconds. Rule 9-10
Verbatim: “shall not be in continuous control of a ball that is in the backcourt for 10 consecutive seconds”.
Court dimensions
The length and width of the playing court. Entry.
94 feet by 50 feet, inside the boundary lines. Rule 1-2.2
Verbatim: “The playing court shall be a rectangular surface free from obstructions with sidelines of 94 feet in length and end lines of 50 feet in length measured from the inside edges of these lines”.
Defensive three seconds
The NBA rule that a defender in the lane must be guarding someone within three seconds; the reason a rim protector cannot simply stand under the basket. Entry.
No such rule; checked against NCAA Men’s Basketball Rules Book.
The book’s three-second rule restricts the offensive player only; its text was searched for a defensive count and none appears. The offensive rule reads, verbatim: “it is a violation when a player exceeds three seconds in the lane and there is no try for goal”.
Free-throw lane
How wide the painted lane is; the number behind the paint, the blocks and the elbows. Entry.
12 feet, measured to the outside of the lane lines. Rule 1-6.1
Verbatim: “A free-throw lane, 12 feet wide measured to the outside of each lane boundary, and the semicircle with the free-throw line as a diameter, shall be marked at each end of”.
Free-throw line
How far the free-throw line is from the backboard; it fixes the nail and the elbows. Entry.
15 feet from the plane of the face of the backboard. Rule 1-6
Verbatim: “It shall be parallel to the end line and shall have its farthest edge 15 feet from the plane of the face of the backboard”.
Goaltending
Touching a shot on its way down, or off the backboard, while it can still score; the rule that limits what a rim protector may do. Entry.
A violation, alongside basket interference; only the defensive team’s goaltending awards points. Rule 9-15.1; Rule 5-1.18
Verbatim: “It is a violation to commit basket interference or goaltending” and “The only infractions for which points are awarded are goaltending or basket interference by the defensive team”.
Length of the game
How long a game is and how it is divided; the one rule every other clock hangs on. Entry.
Two halves of 20 minutes; extra periods of five minutes. Rule 5-6.1
Verbatim: “Playing time for varsity games shall consist of two halves of 20 minutes each with a halftime intermission of 15 minutes” and “Extra periods shall be five minutes each in length with a one-minute intermission before each”.
Shot clock
The time a team has to attempt a shot that reaches the ring; the number that sets the pace of every possession. Entry.
30 seconds. Rule 2-11.1
Under the duties of the shot-clock operator, verbatim: “Use a 30-second shot clock”.
Three-point line
How far the arc is from the basket, and how far the corner line is from the sideline; the geometry every spacing decision in Chapter 3 rests on. Entry.
22 feet 1¾ inches from the center of the basket; 21 feet 7⅞ inches in the corners. Rule 1-7.1
Verbatim: “The three-point field-goal line shall be a distance of 22 feet, 13/4 inches from the center of the basket to the outside edge of the three-point field-goal line and 21 feet, 77/8 inches in the corners”.