PHILADELPHIA — Looking back with 22 seasons of evidence, it is a wonder why so many college basketball coaches were so reluctant to embrace the obvious mathematical advantage of the three-point shot. A free throw from 15 feet was and is worth one point. A shot from fewer than five feet farther was worth three points. Three-hundred percent more for just fewer than five feet does not seem too difficult a concept to understand.

But, in 1986, it was. Other than Rick Pitino and a few others who saw the future, most coaches played the game as if the game had not changed. While the ground crumbled beneath their feet, many coaches refused to move. The earth swallowed them up as the game passed them by.

In that first season teams attempted just 9.2 threes per game. Last season, it was a record 19.07 per game.

The rules committee decided that might be too many, that the balance of the game had shifted beyond the arc, at the expense of post play and fastbreaks that actually finished with layups.

So, the line has been moved back a foot from 19 feet, 9 inches to 20-9. Pitino, then the Providence coach and now the Louisville coach, always thought the line was too close. Which did not deter him from taking advantage of it.

"I think it will affect college basketball in this way: I think the scoring will come down a little bit, I think there will be more 3-2 zone played, more zone played," Pitino said.

Pitino actually would not have minded the line being moved back even farther, making the risk-reward even more clear.

"It's not dramatic enough to make a big significance on the game," Pitino said. "I think the ways to play defense will change the most. I don't think it'll change much the way they play offense. I think the teams that utilize that three-point shot as a major weapon will still shoot it just as many times . . .

"But I guess people don't want dramatic changes. They really like the way the game's being played."

Which raises the obvious question: The three-point shot has become college basketball's version of the home run, the game changer that blows up close games and/or triggers wild comebacks. So, why change it?

The rules committee decided the percentage of threes in relation to all field-goal attempts was getting too high. In the first season, it was 15.7 percent. Last season, it was 34.4 percent.

Back in 1986-87, even the coaches who liked the shot would only let their better shooters launch it. Later, they became much less discriminating.

The best percentage for threes made was that first season, 38.4 percent. The worst was in 1996-97, 33.97 percent. Last season, it was 35.23 percent.

The shot will be more difficult. A foot does matter. It won't matter to the really good shooters.

"It's harder than we thought," Saint Joseph's coach Phil Martelli said. "This is not a team that I thought was a real good three-point shooting team ... Our numbers would indicate that we're probably six or seven percentage points off from our practices and scrimmages."

Part of that is the distance and part of it is personnel. The Hawks simply don't have as many good three-point shooters in the program as they have had in the past.

"The guys that can shoot it, a guy like (Darrin) Govens is comfortable with it," Martelli said. "It's a little more daunting. (Freshman) Chris Prescott has a reputation out of high school as a shooter. He has struggled with it.

"I don't see anything different in terms of extending your defense or shrinking your defense or more lane play. I don't see that with our team.

"You can almost see the physical strain that it takes just to be another foot back."

Unless you are already a good shooter with range.

"What new line?" Govens asked with a smile. "Ain't no new line for me. I'm going to let it go."

Is he conscious of the new line?

"I know exactly where it is with my eyes closed," Govens said.

Notre Dame coach Mike Brey has shooters all over his lineup. With Kyle McAlarney (44.1 percent) and Ryan Ayers (45.1 percent), he is not terribly concerned.

"I don't think that line affects the guys that we have," Brey said. "And I have numbers to back it up. I was intrigued because we went to Ireland and we started all our practices with the new line and we played six games in Ireland with that line. And we shot it as a team right at about the same as we shot it last year to lead the league in three-point field-goal percentage.

"But I do think there's gonna be some teams that were just OK that may take a step down, and then what does that do defensively? How do you play those people? I think there's going to be some intriguing things going on. I really want to see the first 10 games of the season and look at some of the stats and data. But I don't think it'll affect us."

The game is not going back to 1985, when Villanova's defenders never left the lane in its upset of Georgetown in the NCAA championship game.

"Will people really protect the paint, either in a sagging man-to-man or zone defense, like the old days, when there wasn't a line?" Brey asked. "Look at the championship game, with 'Nova and Georgetown. Villanova's zone was in the paint. Their guards' feet were on the elbow. You weren't worried about the line. So you have a little bit of that mentality creeping in. That's what I wonder about. And that's what I'm kind of preparing them for, when we play (against) some different zones. But I don't know if we're really going to know until we get some data here."

One thing is certain: Bad shooters are going to see more red lights.

"Now, you have an impetus to back some guys off the three," Brey said. "Obviously, my guys are the most confident shooters maybe in the country. But I do have one guy I've discouraged a little bit. I never say 'never,' but I have discouraged him. That was hard to do."

The women's line stayed at 19-9, so you will have gyms with two lines, just 12 inches apart. It should not be a problem for the men. They just have to stay beyond the outermost line. Could be a bit confusing for the women.

Will the line affect percentages? Possibly. Will it change the game? Doubtful.

"I don't think it'll affect good shooters at all," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. "The good shooters will shoot the same percentage. It may affect some guys who don't have that kind of range. But I don't see the percentages changing much. I think guys can shoot from there."

They will have to shoot from there. The new shot is 4.8 percent longer, but not likely to be 4.8 percent tougher. That, however, is why they will play the season — to find out.