How long do college football games last? Here's what you need to know

Here's how long you can expect to be in front of the TV watching college football games this season

There are few things fans love more than plopping down on Saturdays in the fall, remote in one hand and a beer in the other, to watch college football for hours on end, and as it turns out, the length of games could be different this season.

Coming into this year, college football is the longest game of any major American sport: longer than the NFL, and more than an hour longer than college basketball and NBA games, and slightly longer than baseball games.

So, how long do college football games last? According to the current NCAA statistics, the average game takes 3 hours and 22 minutes, an increase of four minutes from just five years ago.

But going forward, that time could shrink after the NCAA announced a rule change for the 2023 season around clock management: starting this year, clocks will run after a team makes a first down, unless there is under 2 minutes, 30 seconds left in either half.

Previously, the game clock and play clock would stop after a team made the first down and did not start until the referee motioned for the clock to run, usually after the umpire places the ball between the hash marks. That difference meant that college football games ran around 20 real-life minutes longer than NFL games.

Related: Rule changes to watch in 2023 college football season

How long is halftime in college football?

According to NCAA rules, halftime in college football should be 20 minutes. 

However, it can be shortened before the game “by mutual agreement of the administrations of both schools.”

The longer halftime period allows for both schools' bands to perform on the field for fans. 

NFL games have a 12 minute halftime break, but that time is more than doubled for the Super Bowl, to 30 minutes, giving extra time to the much bigger halftime show in that contest.

Overtime in college football

If a game is tied at the end of regulation, the teams will play into an overtime period, the same as the NFL.

But unlike in the pro game, there are no ties in college football at the end of the first overtime frame.

In each of the first two overtime periods, teams have one possession starting at the opponents' 25-yard line, unless a penalty occurs that moves them back on the field.

Each team has one timeout per overtime period; timeouts do not carry over from regulation nor between overtime periods.

Each team keeps the ball until it fails to score, fails to make a first down, or turns the ball over.

Starting in the second overtime period, teams must try a two-point conversion after scoring a touchdown.

And starting in the third overtime period, teams must run alternating two-point conversions alone instead of conventional offensive touchdowns.

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