When was overtime instituted in college football

As lower levels adopted tournaments, they realized tournaments need winners. The game would go longer. You thought about injuries and all kinds of stuff. I think most of us were happy settling for ties.

In , the SEC needed to promise its new championship game, sponsored by Dr. Thus, top-level college football had overtime rules on hand for the first time in NCAA history. By , every college football game would guarantee a winner, expanding on the SEC provision. What else have we been arguing about for a century or so? Lots of stuff, but how about whether there are too many bowl games or whether a small handful of teams is killing parity?

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By choosing I Accept , you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. Filed under: Eternal Arguments Overtime Rules. Reddit Pocket Flipboard Email. Most of those opportunities came in the form of two-point plays, thanks to new overtime rules installed this season: Starting in the third overtime, teams alternated two-point tries from the 3-yard line instead of playing out full possessions.

If both teams converted or both teams failed to convert, the game moved on to the next overtime period. On and on it went, until Illinois connected on a pass to the back of the end zone and knocked off the No. The goal of the new overtime format was to end the game as quickly as possible in the fewest number of plays. By those measures, it worked exactly as intended — even if fans mocked the structure in its most visible showcase yet.

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Log in. After the end of the fourth period , the referees and team representatives will gather for another coin toss , with the winner electing whether they would like to play offense or defense first.

Unlike the NFL , college overtime is not sudden death and therefore the coin toss decision is more strategy-based. Each opportunity will start at the opponent's 25 yard line. The offensive team will have one possession to score a touchdown or field goal , hopefully not turning the ball over in the process. The amount of time the possession takes does not matter.

Fresno State. Georgia Southern. Georgia State. Georgia Tech. Kansas State. Kent State. Louisiana Tech. Michigan State. Middle Tennessee. Mississippi State. New Mexico State. North Carolina. North Carolina State. North Texas.