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How Many Fouls Do You Get In College Basketball?

Joe Lago

The college game and the pros have several differing rules.
The college game and the pros have several differing rules. / Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

Every March, basketball fans immerse themselves in arguably the biggest spectacles in American sports—the NCAA tournament in men's and women's college hoops.

The college game and the pros have several differing rules, and one of them is the number of personal fouls each player is allowed in a game before being disqualified—or fouling out.

How Many Fouls Before a Player Fouls Out?

In college basketball—men's and women's—players may commit up to four fouls. A fifth foul results in disqualification from the game.

In college, personal fouls and technical fouls are included in a player's game total.

Referees call personal fouls for committing rules violations in a game. Technical fouls may be assessed for unsportsmanlike conduct, such as profane language toward officials and disruptive behavior like slamming the basketball in frustration.

Team Fouls and The Bonus Rule

In men's college basketball, teams are allowed six fouls per 20-minute half. The seventh team foul results in a "bonus" opportunity for the opponent.

In the bonus, the team that was fouled in a non-shooting situation earns a "one and one"—a chance to make one free throw to earn a second attempt. If the team successfully converts the first free throw, it gets to shoot a second free throw.

When a team reaches 10 fouls in a half, it enters the "double bonus," which rewards the opponent two free throws for every personal foul, including shooting and non-shooting penalties. Every foul after the 10th team foul results in the double bonus for the opponent.

Team fouls in the first half do not carry over to the second half. Each squad's foul count is reset to zero at halftime.

In women's college basketball, teams are allowed four fouls per 10-minute quarter. The fifth team foul results in a "double bonus" opportunity for the opponent, which gets to shoot two free throws for every foul after the fifth.

Each team's foul count is reset to zero after each quarter.

Technical and Flagrant Fouls: How They Affect Foul Counts

Technical fouls—which are called in both men's and women's college basketball for unsportsmanlike conduct and certain rules violations—count as personal fouls and are included in a team's foul total.

Flagrant fouls—which are called in men's college hoops for "excessive contact" and actions deemed to be "dangerous or punishing"—also count as personal fouls and team fouls.

Like the NBA, flagrant fouls fit two categories—flagrant 1 and flagrant 2—depending on the severity.

According to the NCAA, a flagrant 1 foul is defined by actions that are "excessive in nature or unnecessary or avoidable, uncalled for or not required by the circumstances of the play." The opponent receives two free throws and then possession of the ball.

The threshold for a flagrant 2 foul is reached for conduct that is "brutal, harsh or cruel or dangerous or punishing." In addition to the opponent receiving two free throws and possession of the ball, the player who committed the flagrant 2 penalty is ejected from the game.

Women's college basketball had flagrant fouls until 2017, when it switched to FIBA's system of "unsportsmanlike" and "disqualifying" fouls.

The penalties are similar to flagrant fouls in men's college hoops. Unsportsmanlike fouls result in two free throws and ball possession, and disqualifying fouls warrant the offending player's ejection.

How Fouling Out Affects Strategy

Coaches often devise offensive game plans to target an opponent's star player with the intent to get that player in early "foul trouble."

An early accumulation of fouls puts any player in jeopardy of disqualification. A key contributor who picks up multiple fouls early in a game can be damaging as the head coach is forced to limit playing time. The star player typically leaves the game to sit on the bench to avoid getting closer to the dreaded fifth foul with so much time left in the game.

A player in foul trouble late in games tends to play conservatively or less aggressive. For that reason, Nate Oats, the head coach of the Alabama men's basketball team, targets poor defenders with four fouls so his players can score baskets with little resistance.

"If you've got a guy with four fouls and it's a tie game with under a minute to go, usually you just get the best shot you can," Oats told the Tuscaloosa News. " ... I do think there's more value in it the earlier you can do it in the game. Now, late in the game, if you haven't really gone at a guy and he's got four and doesn't want to foul out, and he'll give you the matador defense, maybe that's an easy way to get a bucket."

Oats did admit that the strategy is "probably not very smart" in late-game situations against "an elite defender."

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Joe Lago
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