What does a flop warning mean in college basketball?

What does it mean when a player gets a flop warning during a college basketball game? Fans may notice referees penalizing flopping more often.

Watching college basketball during March Madness sometimes means learning about new rules on the fly.

For instance, fans watching the NCAA Tournament might be perplexed when they hear the referee give a “flop warning.”

What does that even mean?

What does a flop warning mean in college basketball?

A flop warning is actually exactly what it sounds like. A player is warned for being suspected of flopping during a play.

Basically, the NCAA treats flops like they are a delay of game infraction. If you do it, you first get a warning.

The trouble comes when you try to do it again, because the second time you get hit with a flop infraction, it’s a class B technical foul.

The good side of it? It gives players incentive not to flop, lest they end up picking up a technical at some point in the game.

The bad side? People have noticed that flop warnings can actually hurt the team on the receiving end of the flop.

So clearly college basketball hasn’t figured it out perfectly, but the spirit is there to prevent flopping from becoming a bigger part of the game.

What counts as a flop? Situations where there’s no contact on a shot attempt but the player goes down looking for a foul is one. On the other end, refs are also taught to look out for defenders embellishing contact, particularly by throwing their head back on contact from the offensive player.

For more NCAA basketball news, analysis, opinion and features, check out more from the FanSided college basketball section to stay on top of the latest action.