Section 4: Players & Officials
Team Composition
- 5 players on the court per team at any time
- Roster: typically 13-15 players for NCAA D1 men's basketball
- Substitutions: unlimited, made at dead-ball stoppages on the scorer's signal
- Re-entry: a substituted player may return to the game
Officials
- Three-person on-court crew (referee, two umpires) for NCAA D1 games
- Scorer, timekeeper, shot-clock operator at the scorer's table
- Video-replay official for designated reviewable situations
Coaches' Challenge (2025/26 Framework)
NCAA men's basketball uses a coaches'-challenge framework allowing a head coach to request video review of designated reviewable situations (out-of-bounds calls in the last 2 minutes, basket interference, goaltending, made-basket validity, flagrant fouls, and certain shot-clock incidents). Each team has one challenge per game.
Media Timeouts
Television broadcasts of NCAA D1 games include scheduled media timeouts: 4 per half at predetermined time intervals (typically at the first dead ball under 16:00, 12:00, 8:00, and 4:00 of each half). Media timeouts do not count against team timeouts.