March Madness overtime rules: All you need to know about the NCAA Tournament's extra periods

Since March Madness doesn`t let teams play five or seven-game series like in the NBA Playoffs, NCAA teams fight tooth and nail to determine who comes out on top. At times, the intense competition can lead into overtime (or multiple overtimes), if needed, so that a winner can be decided.

However, just like any other collegiate competition, the NCAA has its own rules governing OT periods, which differ a lot from what the NBA does. On that note, here are March Madness overtime rules and how they can affect late-game situations.

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What are the March Madness overtime rules?

March Madness overtime rules say that a lot of common basketball rules, with a few differences from the pros (via USA Today):

• Overtime periods last five minutes
• Overtime periods are unlimited until a winner is finally decided
• All previous fouls and bonus periods carry over into OT
• Each team gets an extra 30-second timeout to use in OT on top of any other timeout they might still have
• Same rules for reviewing plays within the final minute apply to avoid missing critical calls

As per the rulebook, March Madness overtime rules are more or less the same compared to regular season OT rules.

The differences from professional play, meanwhile, involve the lack of very specific things, like coach`s challenges to challenge potential wrong or non-calls (via ESPN).

In the NCAA Tournament, potential wrong or non-calls get reviewed automatically by officials within the final minute of play.

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How does overtime work in March Madness basketball?

As previously mentioned, March Madness overtime rules are more or less similar to how the regular season OT rules work.

Teams play an extra five-minute OT period if they`re tied at the end of regulation. If they remain tied at the end of the first OT, another period is required until a winner is decided.

Moreover, teams are also granted another extra 75-second timeout apart from their extra 30-second TO (via FanSided).

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Difference between March Madness vs regular season overtime

A big change from regular-season rules involve player fouls. Each player is only allowed to commit five fouls. If they foul out of regulation, they can`t return to the game in OT.

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How many overtimes are there in NCAA basketball?

There's an unlimited number of overtimes. A game could go into as many OT periods as possible before a winner emerges.