NCAA Approves New Playing Rules Ahead of 2020 Season

The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel has made a few notable changes to the rules that will be in effect this season.

Football is an ever-evolving game. Because of that, changes are constantly being made. Today, the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel announced a handful of rules that are expected to improve the game at the college level, even if they are just minor fixes.

• Players that are flagged for targeting can now remain on the bench
• Two-Minute Guideline for Replay
• No. 0 can be worn as a jersey number 
• Officials have jurisdiction 90 minutes prior to kickoff

As first reported by CBSSports, Barrett Sallee. 

NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel has officially approved new rules:

- Players flagged for targeting can remain on bench
- Two-minute “guideline” for replay
- No. 0 as an official jersey number
- Officials have jurisdiction 90 minutes prior to kickoffhttps://t.co/Ls4e3UeZJw

— Barrett Sallee 🇺🇸 (@BarrettSallee) April 21, 2020

The first rule appeals mainly to the players. Players that are flagged for targeting will now be allowed to remain on the bench instead of being escorted to the locker room. This means that players can still be a part of the team atmosphere despite not being allowed to play. For team-oriented players, this works out perfectly.

The next rule is in favor of the fans, specifically the impatient ones. There are often incidents where replays seem to take longer than needed. With this new set of rules in effect, replays will have a "guideline" of two minutes. Now the question is, how strict will that "guideline" be followed?

This panel has also determined that No. 0 is an acceptable jersey number. The NFL once allowed No. 0 to be worn in the 70s, but has not been seen since. It's most likely that this number will belong to the skill position group, but with the flexibility of number choices at the college level, maybe we see some defensive lineman take on the new number. 

Lastly, the officials will now have jurisdiction of the field 90 minutes before kickoff in comparison to 60 in the past seasons. This has been implemented to force coaches to be on the field sooner during warm-ups to prevent pregame fights from occurring. 

Now, one can't exactly assume the latter rule is in direct response to the altercation between Kentucky's Lynn Bowden and a Virginia Tech Player during the 2019 Belk Bowl, but it's certainly interesting timing. For those that don't remember, Bowden got actually punched a player from Virginia Tech prior to the game, but since it was prior to 60 minutes before kickoff, Bowden was allowed to play. 

He then proceeded to rack up 233.rushing yards, another 73 passing yards and three TDs on there way to a 37-30 win over the Hokies. If these rules were in play at that time, Bowden would have likely been removed from the contest. 

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