College basketball coaches will be able to challenge officials’ calls next season for the first time, and the NCAA also said there is “positive momentum” toward switching the men’s game from halves to quarters.

The NCAA announced several minor rule changes Tuesday that affect both men’s and women’s basketball.

Men’s coaches will be able to challenge out-of-bounds calls, basket interference or goaltending, and whether a secondary defender was in the restricted area. Coaches will get at least one challenge per game but must have a timeout to use one. A successful challenge means a coach gets another one; if the challenge is unsuccessful, the coach may not challenge another call.

On the women’s side, coaches will be able to challenge out-of-bounds calls, backcourt violations, whether the correct player was called for a foul and whether a change in possession occurred before the ruling of a foul that leads to free throws.

Women’s coaches won’t need a timeout to challenge a call, but an unsuccessful challenge would lead to a technical foul for the excessive timeout.

South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley will have the ability to challenge a call the next time she finds herself in this situation. (Photo by M. Anthony Nesmith/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The women’s game already is played in quarters instead of halves, while the men’s game with its 20-minute halves remains an outlier in basketball. An NCAA rules committee “recommended NCAA Division I conferences create a joint working group to provide feedback on the potential change from halves to quarters.” Women’s basketball made the shift from halves to quarters for the 2015-2016 season after a decision made by the rules committee that June.

On the men’s side, the NCAA also implemented several points of emphasis for officials that it said would “improve the flow of the game.” Those include telling officials “to address delay-of-game tactics, limit time spent at the monitor, improve game administration efficiency and reduce physicality.”

Officials also will have the option to call a Flagrant 1 foul for contact to the groin area. Previously, such contact could only be called a common foul or a Flagrant 2 foul, which triggers an ejection of the offending player.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Deion Sanders has been away from his post as Colorado’s head coach recently due to an illness.

Per USA Today‘s Brent Schrotenboer, Sanders has remained at his estate recently with an unspecified illness as Colorado opened up summer football camps last week in Boulder.

ESPN’s Heather Dinich described Sanders as being “out of office” due to the illness.

Schrotenboer noted Deion Sanders Jr. did a YouTube livestream on Sunday from the family’s estate, saying his father was “feeling well” and would provide information about his health issues.

“He’ll tell y’all soon enough what he going through, what he went through,” Deion Jr. said on the livestream.

Deion Jr. didn’t offer any specific timetable for his father to travel to Colorado.

“When we get back in Boulder, I don’t know,” Deion Jr. added. “I’m waiting until my dad leaves. When he leaves, then I’ll go. Until then, I’m gonna sit here with him.”

Coach Prime was originally scheduled to be the keynote speaker for the Sickle Cell Disease Research and Educational Symposium in Florida on June 8, but the organization announced Magic Johnson was stepping in due to an “unavoidable last-minute scheduling change” for Sanders.

Sanders has briefly discussed his recent health issue. He said on Asante Samuel’s podcast on May 30 that he’s lost 14 pounds and “what I’m dealing with right now is on a whole other level.”

Health issues have been a concern for Sanders in recent years. The Pro Football Hall of Famer had multiple surgeries and two toes amputated due to blood clots in his leg during the 2021 season when he was coaching at Jackson State.

Sanders had another surgery to remove a blood clot in his right leg in July 2023. He is entering his third season as Colorado’s head coach. The Buffaloes have a 13-12 record since he was hired in December 2022.

It does not feel that long ago since Ole Miss basketball had an incredible NCAA Tournament run. Head coach Chris Beard has lost a lot of that roster but has reloaded via the transfer portal and has built another good-looking team that can go to the postseason in the 2025-26 season.

Beard spoke to the media ahead of summer workouts regarding the team and the upcoming season. The third-year Rebel coach stated the rest of the college basketball teams but confirmed it was not arrogance on the team’s part.

“You know, at Ole Miss, it’s not arrogance or self-promotion, but we will play anyone, anytime, anywhere, it’s the way we have always been. We want to play that schedule.”

Chris Beard

The comment came after Chris Beard discussed the game, scheduled against St. John’s in December, which would be played at Madison Square Garden. He gave a nod to the program and its head coach, Rick Pitino, with the Red Storm, one of the top teams in college basketball, making the second round in this past season’s NCAA Tournament.

The scheduled game backs up what Beard is looking to do at Ole Miss. Despite having an uber-competitive conference schedule with the SEC, the premium conference in college basketball, he still wants to have big teams in the non-conference schedule.

Last season, the Rebels faced BYU, Purdue, Louisville, Memphis, and Colorado State in non-conference play, all of which are NCAA Tournament teams from the 2024-25 season. They will face another ACC team in the SEC/ACC challenge, which is likely to be another top team from that conference, stacked in college basketball. They will also play Memphis once again this coming season.

Beard confirmed that they are working to get more top teams on the schedule, but it’s not easy after playing so well last season.

Latest Ole Miss News

Following the best season in program history, the Liberty softball team finished the year ranked in the Top 25 of all major national polls.

The Lady Flames were ranked No. 15 in both the Softball America and D1Softball Top 25. The Flames were voted No. 16 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 and 17th in the NFCA Top 25 Coaches Poll. These end of season rankings are the best in program history in all four major national polls. This also marks the first time in program history Liberty has been ranked in the Top 25 in all four major polls during the same week.

This is the fourth time in program history that Liberty has appeared in at least one Top 25 poll to end a season, also finishing ranked inside the Top 25 in 2021, 2023, and 2024. The Lady Flames spent much of the 2025 season ranked, 13 different weeks being ranked in the Top 25.

Liberty finished the season with a 50-15 record, setting a new program record for single-season victories. Liberty swept both the Conference USA regular season and tournament titles for the second year in a row. The team made history and grabbed headlines across the country at the 2025 NCAA Bryan-College Station Regional, winning two of three games against the No. 1 overall seed and Regional host Texas A&M. With those victories, the Lady Flames advanced to the program’s first ever Super Regional. In doing so, Liberty became the first team in the current NCAA Tournament fo that to knock out the No. 1 national seed in the Regional rounds. The Lady Flames advanced to Oregon to complete in the Eugene Super Regional, falling to the Ducks in two games.

Texas A&M’s newest wide receiver, Kevin Concepcion, hasn’t caught a pass yet at Kyle Field, but he’s already scoring big. According to recent reports, Concepcion has racked up $2.5 million in NIL deals, highlighting how being an Aggie can boost a football player’s brand in a big way.

Since transferring from NC State, Concepcion has teamed up with major brands like Topps, Call of Duty, and Fanatics, thanks to savvy guidance from his marketing agent Bryan Miller of The Familie. With a standout freshman year under his belt (he earned ACC Rookie of the Year honors) the talented wideout saw his NIL value skyrocket upon arriving in College Station.

This news comes as the State of Texas continues to be at the forefront of NIL innovation. Recent state legislation, signed by Governor Abbott, allows Texas universities to directly pay athletes through revenue-sharing deals. Texas A&M Athletic Director Trev Alberts even hinted at pushing forward with revenue sharing soon, putting the Aggies ahead of the curve nationally.

For Concepcion and future Aggies, the NIL landscape at Texas A&M just keeps getting brighter. Here’s to hoping this off-field excitement translates to more wins on the field.

The South Carolina softball team has a lot to be proud of this season. And the latest recognition is finishing the 2025 season ranked No. 14 in the country, according to the final poll released by Softball America.

The Gamecocks were one of the nation’s biggest surprises this season after being projected to finish dead last in the SEC. Instead, they defied all odds and doubters, posting a 13-11 conference record. It is only the second winning SEC record in the program’s history.

In her first season at the helm of the program, head coach Ashley Chastain Woodard led South Carolina to a top-eight national seed. After winning their regional, the Gamecocks then hosted a Super Regional for the first time in program history, coming within one out of punching their ticket to the Women’s College World Series. A ninth inning comeback by UCLA in Game 2 held South Carolina from making their first trip to Oklahoma City.

Chastain Woodard was named National Coach of the Year by D1Softball.com as the Gamecocks finished a historic season with a 44-17 record.

D1 Softball Final Top 25:

1. Texas

2. Texas Tech

3. Oklahoma

4. Tennessee

5. UCLA

6. Oregon

7. Ole Miss

8. Florida

9. Clemson

10. Florida State

11. Arkansas

12. Alabama

13. Nebraska

14. South Carolina

15. Liberty

16. Georgia

17. Texas A&M

18. Arizona

19. Stanford

20. Virginia Tech

21. LSU

22. Mississippi State

23. Ohio State

24. Duke

25. North Florida

The 2025 season will be remembered as a turning point for South Carolina softball. With a Top 15 finish, a national seed, and hosting a Super Regional under first-year head coach Ashley Chastain Woodard, the Gamecocks have proved that they belong among the nation’s elite.