What's better than March Madness? Extra basketball during March Madness.
The NCAA Tournament kicks off action on Thursday, bringing fans compelling action for nearly three weeks before a national champion is crowned in Arizona. The annual competition is always chock full of stunning upsets, epic buzzer-beaters and plenty of chaos.
Part of what makes playoff basketball so electric is the potential for overtime, and that could certainly happen during the 2024 edition of March Madness. If teams remain tied at the end of regulation, the games go to an intense OT period to determine a winner.
Overtime is not always guaranteed to occur during March Madness. In last year's tournament, only one game required extra time. That was Kansas State’s 98-93 win over Michigan State in the Sweet 16.
With that said, if any of the 2024 games go into extra time, here is what fans need to know about overtime during March Madness.
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March Madness overtime rules
If a game is tied at the end of regulation during March Madness, the two competitors play a five-minute overtime period to determine a winner, according to the NCAA rulebook.
Should both teams remain tied at the end of those five minutes, another five-minute overtime period will be played to determine the winner. There will be a one-minute intermission between any of the necessary overtime periods.
There is no limit to the number of OT frames that can be played. The game continues until an overtime period ends with one team scoring more points than the other.
NCAA regular season overtime rules
The overtime rules in March Madness follow the same structure as the regular season.
If there is a tie at the end of regulation, then the teams play a five-minute overtime period with a minute break in between. The game continues to another overtime period if the score remains tied and so on until a five-minute period ends with one team ahead.
What is the longest March Madness game?
There have been two incidents where March Madness games have required four overtimes, marking the longest games in NCAA Tournament history.
In 1956, Canisius earned a 79-78 quadruple overtime victory against NC State during an East Region quarterfinal at Madison Square Garden.
Five years later at the 1961 NCAA Tournament, St. Joseph’s defeated Utah in quadruple overtime during the national third-place match. The final score: 127-120.
