Unless you’re on the west coast, late start times for premier sporting events can be quite frustrating, with the NCAA Tournament championship game being historically the most cumbersome. For years, this highly anticipated event took place at a ridiculous start time of 9:20 PM ET on Mondays, aimed at maximizing prime-time viewership. Unfortunately, this often meant the game stretched until almost midnight on the east coast, right before One Shining Moment concludes.
Fortunately, the NCAA is finally making a sensible change. On Tuesday, the official NCAA March Madness account announced that the 2025 National Championship game will now tip off at 8:50 PM ET, which is 30 minutes earlier than the previous start time.
🚨 National Championship tip-off time!
The 2025 National Championship will tip off at 8:50pm ET – 30 minutes earlier than the typical start time. pic.twitter.com/h39KTt16Q0
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) January 28, 2025
While it’s still a late start, it’s an improvement. Just last week, there was significant uproar regarding the College Football Playoff National Championship Game being scheduled for a Monday night. Although it’s somewhat justifiable during the NFL Playoffs, it remains a challenge for fans who want to watch the big game late on a worknight.
In the first week of April, March Madness faces no football competition. However, the men’s and women’s NCAA Tournaments follow a Friday-Sunday and Saturday-Monday rotation for their Final Four contests. Is it possible to create a basketball festival weekend where all games are played on Saturday and Sunday? Could the men’s and women’s tournaments be staggered, perhaps a week apart, to enhance viewership and accessibility? Perhaps it’s worth considering, though it’s unclear if it could be implemented.
For now, we can only hope for slightly less grumpy east coast sports fans.
