[oldalum]

There are concepts we fans have (like "too many steps") that aren't quite what the NCAA rules use.  But if you keep reading the CARDboad, we might get it right.

The bounce should be roughly the same, not because of how air pressure affects the bounce, but because the amount of bounce is part of the  definition of a legal ball.  
NCAA WBB rules
Art. 7. The air pressure that will give the required reaction shall be stamped on
the ball.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

What I was trying to say was that if you inflate a basketball at sea level to a specific pressure as measured by a typical hand pump, then bring that same basketball to Denver and inflate it to the same measured pressure, the bounce should be the same (factors other than change in altitude being equal). I think you are saying that the reason the bounces of basketballs used in NCAA women's games are the same in all arenas is that their pressures are adjusted such that they are the same. I do not know whether this is true, but my initial guess is that whoever checks at NCAA games whether the balls are inflated correctly does not do so by measuring the actual bounce to verify it is within the specified limits, but does so by checking that the pressure matches that stamped on the ball. My interpretation of the NCAA rule you cite is that it is a specification to the ball manufacturers that they are to manufacture their balls so as to meet the specified parameters and to stamp on the ball the pressure required to meet those parameters. But the height of the bounce probably depends on the surface it is bouncing on, too, which would argue for actually measuring the bounce at games. Does anyone know what is actually done at Pac-12 games?

[oldalum]

There are concepts we fans have (like "too many steps") that aren't quite what the NCAA rules use.  But if you keep reading the CARDboad, we might get it right.

The bounce should be roughly the same, not because of how air pressure affects the bounce, but because the amount of bounce is part of the  definition of a legal ball.  
NCAA WBB rules
Art. 7. The air pressure that will give the required reaction shall be stamped on
the ball.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

What I was trying to say was that if you inflate a basketball at sea level to a specific pressure as measured by a typical hand pump, then bring that same basketball to Denver and inflate it to the same measured pressure, the bounce should be the same (factors other than change in altitude being equal). I think you are saying that the reason the bounces of basketballs used in NCAA women's games are the same in all arenas is that their pressures are adjusted such that they are the same. I do not know whether this is true, but my initial guess is that whoever checks at NCAA games whether the balls are inflated correctly does not do so by measuring the actual bounce to verify it is within the specified limits, but does so by checking that the pressure matches that stamped on the ball. My interpretation of the NCAA rule you cite is that it is a specification to the ball manufacturers that they are to manufacture their balls so as to meet the specified parameters and to stamp on the ball the pressure required to meet those parameters. But the height of the bounce probably depends on the surface it is bouncing on, too, which would argue for actually measuring the bounce at games. Does anyone know what is actually done at Pac-12 games?