Tom Dienhart, BTN.com Senior Writer, June 9, 2015

It?s official: The NCAA has adopted men?s basketball rules, including a shorter shot clock. The NCAA announced the news in a tweet Monday afternoon, confirming that Division I men's basketball teams will play with a 30-second shot clock.

It also announced a four-foot restricted-area arc and that there will be four timeouts instead of five (with no more than three carrying over from the first to the second half).

The measures are aimed at improving the on-court product after a regular season marked by low-scoring, slow-paced games. Expanding the charge circle is expected to reduce the amount of collisions in the low post as well.

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Is Northwestern?s 2015 schedule easier or tougher than the 2014 slate? InsideNU.com takes a look.

The conclusion: Overall, the schedule looks slightly tougher, but not enough to be a major impediment.

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Good news for Penn State: It will get some bowl loot.

Pennlive.com says the Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors announced Sunday evening that it had voted to end Penn State's bowl revenue ban a year early, meaning the program will receive its conference bowl revenue share, $4.5 million for the 2014-2015 season, this year. The conference voted in February to end the program's bowl revenue ban, originally slated for four years starting in 2012-2013, for the 2015-2016 season, meaning the Lions were set to miss out on that $4.5 million this year. It did not disclose as of late Sunday night why it had decided to relax that ruling even further.

How much money did Penn State end up losing from its bowl ban? The Pittsburgh Post Gazette in February placed the lost revenue at $12.25 million including the self-imposed ban.

That money will not be coming back, but the Post Gazette says as athletic director Sandy Barbour has reiterated throughout her nearly yearlong tenure, receiving the bowl revenue again is vital to the program's plans moving forward.

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There has been talk of facility improvements at Minnesota for years. Then, word came that football and basketball practice facilities were on the horizon. Now, the Minneapolis Star Tribune says, the school has pushed back the start of projects. Sigh.

Friday, the university announced that the Regents won?t vote on the project until their September meeting. School officials said the three-month wait for the vote won?t delay the project from being completed by the summer of 2017. But it will push the groundbreaking to at least mid-September, extending uncertainty for recruits.

?Do I want it started in August? Darn right. I?ve said that all along,? Gophers football coach Jerry Kill said. ?But at the same time, if you wait a month to make sure you have all the schematics right, then you don?t have to change something midstream.?

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Tough news from Michigan State: Delton Williams is no longer enrolled.

Jason Cody, of MSU university relations and communications, confirmed to MLive.com that Williams is not currently taking classes during the summer term, according to the office of the registrar.

Williams has been suspended indefinitely from all team activities since a March 16 incident, when he was initially charged with the misdemeanor offense of brandishing a weapon in public. Michigan State has three scholarship tailbacks on its roster, and a fourth will join the team when highly touted incoming freshman LJ Scott reports to campus later this month.

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What can Indiana expect from Michigan transfer Max Bielfeldt?

The former Michigan Wolverine should deepen Indiana's post rotation, and provide important veteran leadership.

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Another day, another update on the world famous Jim Harbaugh satellite camps.

Michigan's staff participated in Sunday's "Lauren's First and Goal" camp at Lafayette College, an event that drew more than 2,100 participants. The camp also served as a fundraiser, and it generated $101,800 for brain tumor research and cancer services through the Lauren's First and Goal Foundation. The foundation itself is named after Lauren Loose, a 17-year-old pediatric brain tumor survivor.

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I will leave you with this neat video of Wisconsin kicker Rafael Gaglianone tweeted. Awesome stuff.

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About Tom Dienhart BTN.com senior writer Tom Dienhart is a veteran sports journalist who covers Big Ten football and men's basketball for BTN.com and BTN TV. Find him on Twitter and Facebook, read all of his work at btn.com/tomdienhart, and subscribe to his posts via RSS. Also, send questions to his weekly mailbag using the form below and read all of his previous answers in his reader mailbag section.

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