Mike Pereira
NFL & College Football Rules Expert
Few events provide more drama in sports than overtime in college football.
This year, a key rule change has been made that will affect how games that go multiple OTs are managed. Teams will not have the safety valve of a fresh timeout for every new period.
The gist of overtime will stay the same, but here’s a breakdown of how it will look different in 2025.
New overtime rules will be coming to college football. (Photo by Gus Stark/LSU/University Images via Getty Images}
It wasn’t too long ago that college football games could end in a tie if the game was even after regulation. Before the 1995 season, college games could end in a tie in that scenario. It was the bowl season in ‘95 that saw the NCAA approve a change that allowed overtime to take place.
Unlike the NFL, both teams are assured to get the ball in college overtimes. Each team gets possession at the opponent’s 25-yard line. That continues until one team scores more points in a single period than the other.
To ensure games cannot truly go on forever, teams must go for two after the second overtime period. Also, there is no clock in college football’s overtime.
Overtime in college football isn’t going to change too much, but there are changes to it.
The format itself isn’t going to change, really. Each team will still get the ball and is able to kick the extra point after a touchdown in the first overtime period, then it will have to attempt the 2-point conversion.
How timeouts worked was that both teams got a timeout for both the first and second overtime periods. Next, though, is where the change will come.
Entering the third overtime period, each team will only get one timeout to use for the rest of the game. The goal is to keep the game condensed without going eight or nine periods while still remaining competitive.
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