College basketball enthusiasts are buzzing as the 2022-23 NCAA Tournament kicks off. There's nothing more thrilling than watching two collegiate squads giving it their all for 40 minutes with a shot at national glory on the line. Having said that, sometimes an extra frame is needed to see who advances to the next stage of March Madness.
Here's a look at how the March Madness overtime rules work.
March Madness Overtime Rules
March Madness overtime rules are no different from that of the NCAA regular season. If two teams are tied after regulation, they'll clash in a five-minute overtime period that begins with a jump ball. From there, whoever leads after the final buzzer is declared the winner.
There's no limit to how many overtime periods an NCAA Tournament game can have. If the two sides are still tied after that, they'll play another five-minute overtime frame and so on. Teams are also given one 30-second timeou t in each of the extra frames.
All fouls – both personal and team – carry over into overtime, along with the bonus.
Longest March Madness Overtime
For those curious, there are two games that share the distinction of being the longest in March Madness history. North Carolina State and Canisius initially set the record with a quadruple overtime affair in the first round of the 1956 NCAA tournament before St. Joseph's and Utah matched it five years later.
However, the longest game in all of college baske tball history took place in 1981 as Cincinnati needed seven overtime periods to vanquish Bradley.