Is college basketball quarters or halves? Halftime length, half length and more

College basketball takes center stage for March Madness but new fans could be wondering if college hoops has quarters or halves and how long halftime is.

College basketball fans who are locked in from the first game of the regular season obviously look forward to the start of March Madness every year. But whenever the NCAA Tournament tips off, that brings a whole new group of viewers into the picture, people who may not be as in tune with the college hoops world as others.

With that, of course, obviously comes a lot of questions about the game. More specifically, it comes with questions about the rules.

Is college basketball quarters or halves? How long is halftime in college games? How long are the periods in a game? We’ve got all of the answers that you’re looking for.

Is college basketball quarters or halves?

Unlike in the NBA, college basketball does not have four quarters but, instead, is run with two halves. There are two 20-minute halves that are played. The clock stops on any out-of-bounds or foul in addition to timeouts as well.

This does differ from women’s college hoops. While the men play 20-minute halves, the women play four 10-minute quarters. So we get 40-minute games in regulation for both the men and women, but the way they are split up is the big difference.

College basketball halftime length in March Madness

But what about halftime? If you’re a new fan for March Madness, you might want to go grab a drink or some food when the game you’re watching enters halftime. How long do you have?

The best we can say is that you have roughly 15 minutes for halftime in college basketball. There are always variations on that as it sometimes takes teams longer to get out of the locker room, delays with the refs or otherwise, or a number of other things that can change that timeframe slightly. But around 15 minutes is always the goal.

How long is overtime in college basketball?

When you’re talking about college hoops and especially March Madness, you’re talking about close games, great finishes and so on. That can often mean overtime. So what does the sport do when there is extra time needed to decide a winner?

College basketball overtime is 5 minutes long, which is a quarter of a regular half length. That is the length of every overtime period, no matter how many it takes to decide a winner in the end.

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