9:30 pm is TOO LATE

[cancontent]

I’m with the OP, minus conspiracy theories, that 9:30 ET is a ridiculous start time. What are the odds it will even tip off on time?

There’s this little league called the NFL, it took a while but they figured out that a 9pm kickoff for MNF was losing eyeballs, moved to 8:15
Kickoff time for SB LVI?, 6pm.
They only managed 110M viewers.

You wonder why they’re so popular? They put their games at reasonable times and cultivate new fans that aren’t sleeping.

MLB take note, your never ending WS games that start after 8, just might with an earlier start reverse those declining ratings.

All good here though in DFW, the site of the 2023 Final 4

So when does the first game tip off at on a Friday to gain as many viewers possible for ratings? A 6 pm tip off penalizes West Coast fans who may want to see both games instead of just the Stanford-UConn match up.

Heck it may penalize SC and Louisville fans who can't get home in time to watch the game. Streaming options, sure, but not everyone will have the ability to.

The Superbowl isn't a fair comparison. We're talking an event that the NFL cornered the market on decades ago. The NCAAW is working on increasing viewership and need to do what they can. Monday Night Football still struggles with ratings and ESPN/ABC continually change things to see what will stick. They've gone through at least 3 announcer combinations in the last 5 years and are hoping Aikman and Buck help right the ship.

 

[Sifaka]

It's mud season in Maine. Ayuh, we're special. We get an extra season after winter and before springtime. Connecticut WBB in mud season is a VERY GOOD THING. I have dim and distant memories of my 60s. UConn is in the final four, and I woke up on the right side of the grass this morning. Nothing to complain about.

 

[triaddukefan]

Complaining about it 9:30pm being too late when its on TV? Is that unfair for UCONN fans?? How about attending a regional game in person that doesn't start until 9:30pm and leaving the arena after midnight. Can't remember a time when UCONN was in a F/S regional and played the 9:30pm game. Definitely not in 2019 when they had the #1 seed Louisville play the late game in Albany.

Back in the old days, they used to have the Women's Final on Saturday afternoons.. then the final on a Sunday afternoon around 1pm. Thank goodness ESPN took over WBB programming and there are actually time for the players to recover a bit between games.

I wanted to say this but held my tongue. Thank you

I wanted to say that, but didn't want to get suspended.

 

[Linart]

Oh god, if the national media gets ahold of this:
"UConn fanbase says 9:30 is too late. Murder She Wrote at 8:30 is bad enough."

 

[cancontent]

Oh god, if the national media gets ahold of this:
"UConn fanbase says 9:30 is too late. Murder She Wrote at 8:30 is bad enough."

 

[triaddukefan]

By the way, I don't think 9:30pm is too late for senior citizens. I know plenty of old folk who are night owls and 9:30 is still early. My mother is pushing 80 and she stays up to watch basketball games. She might not be awake at the end of the games though

 

[Sifaka]

My mother is pushing 80 and she stays up to watch basketball games.

I wonder if she and I are pushing from the same side?

She might not be awake at the end of the games though

Tennessee's offense will do that to you.

 

[MSGRET]

The women actually did play on the Saturday and Monday at one point, last done in 2016 I believe. I don't remember off hand when the game times were on the Saturday, but it would be interesting to know.

Not sure why they went back to Friday and Sunday, but it probably involves coordination with the men's Final Four game days.

One of the main reasons why they went away from the Sunday - Tuesday Final Four and Championship game was because of viewership. The NCAA believed that more people would view the women's game if the Final Four and Championship games were before the men's and not after it.

 

[Dove]

May the Power of Paige compel you!!!

 

[TeamFirst!]

I think it's bad for Uconn. By the time the game is over it will be around 11:30 PM effectively for Uconn's internal clock and only 8:30 PM for Stanfords. Big factor.

 

[Monte]

"Time only matters if you are in prison."

If a person is retired, they should stay up late, and then sleep late the next morning........as a West Coast baseball fan, some games I watch don't end until around 2 AM.

 

[Dove]

I think it's bad for Uconn. By the time the game is over it will be around 11:30 PM effectively for Uconn's internal clock and only 8:30 PM for Stanfords. Big factor.

You're overthinking this. They are college kids with coaching staffs that have been doing this for years.

 

[Zinethar]

I guess it is good that the team doesn't have to play at 9:30. Where they are playing it will be 8:30 and of course for Stanford they might think it is too early to be playing at 6:30 their time! Pretty much the best time for the rest of the country to see our awesome women play!

 

[Husky25]

I think it's bad for Uconn. By the time the game is over it will be around 11:30 PM effectively for Uconn's internal clock and only 8:30 PM for Stanfords. Big factor.

The team basically got off the bus from Bridgeport and onto a waiting bus headed for Windsor Locks. They've been on Central time for 36 hours already, with about 60 to go before tip-off. Not to mention that jet lag is typically worse going West to East. This group of 19-22 year olds traveled West. I'm pretty sure they'll be able to adjust.

The bigger concern should be that they are basically skipping a week's worth of classes. Where is the concern about their performance on their midterms?

 

[Centerstream]

The team basically got off the bus from Bridgeport and onto a waiting bus headed for Windsor Locks. They've been on Central time for 36 hours already, with about 60 to go before tip-off. Not to mention that jet lag is typically worse going West to East. This group of 19-22 year olds traveled West. I'm pretty sure they'll be able to adjust.

The bigger concern should be that they are basically skipping a week's worth of classes. Where is the concern about their performance on their midterms?

Don't they have tutors for their academic endeavors?

 

[Biff]

Don't they have tutors for their academic endeavors?

Yes and in this situation they travel with the team.

 

[Zinethar]

I'm sure the coaches, especially UConn's who have experienced this many times, got to the site as early as possible and likely had already started to train the teams body clock for the game time. Heck I had an argument with Adam in the garden of Eden and I can reset my body clock easily given 3 days (usually takes 1).

 

[Husky25]

Don't they have tutors for their academic endeavors?

Of course they do, but theoretically tutors are allowed to answer as many questions as coaches are allowed to score points.

I was being purposefully glib, but I think I've come to realize a deeper point reemerging concerning college athletics after the fact. I am debating whether to expand on it here in this thread...

 

[JellyBean]

ESPN is at it again. They figure UConn can win the ratings, plus adding in the top West coast team Stanford.

The fact of the matter is if you are 60+ its too late.

All I gotta say is, take that pre-game nap if you are over 60 and want to watch the game. If not, set that DVR.

 

[Centerstream]

Of course they do, but theoretically tutors are allowed to answer as many questions as coaches are allowed to score points.

I was being purposefully glib, but I think I've come to realize a deeper point reemerging concerning college athletics after the fact. I am debating whether to expand on it here in this thread...

I have no idea what you mean. My post question was the result of your post. I assumed that tutors were there to help our student-athletes keep up with their academics so your answer makes no sense to me. But it could be because I didn't go to college or ever had any tutors in HS.

"The bigger concern should be that they are basically skipping a week's worth of classes. Where is the concern about their performance on their midterms?"

 

[Husky25]

I have no idea what you mean. My post question was the result of your post. I assumed that tutors were there to help our student-athletes keep up with their academics so your answer makes no sense to me. But it could be because I didn't go to college or ever had any tutors in HS.

"The bigger concern should be that they are basically skipping a week's worth of classes. Where is the concern about their performance on their midterms?"

So you wouldn't know that studying and taking college level exams can be just as distracting as missing a couple hours sleep, a time change, or playing a game at 8:30 instead of 7:00.

College basketball programs take a 7-10 day hiatus from games in mid-December in the interest of Finals. The NCAA has said in the past (I believe they've since backed off, but still...) that an FBS playoff tournament is near impossible because it would interfere with Finals (Of course FCS, Div. 2, and Div. 3 all have an NCAA sanctioned tournament). Even for us regular students, UConn established two completely empty "Study" days to prepare for Finals. We were on our own for midterms.

Yet the NCAA Tournaments are smack dab in the middle of midterms, which are worth a significant portion of the final grade (as much as the Final in many cases), and are paid little to no mind.

It's something that came to light for me in the early 2000s (I graduated in the late 90s and didn't even think of it then) during a CBS RttFF segment on Washington. A portion of the piece was devoted to following Nate Robinson around looking for a suitable place to take a midterm, while he was on the road. He evidently he only had a certain window of time in which to take it. Presumably to guard against "cheating."

 

[Beemer]

Because I’m in Europe, the game starts at 3:30 a.m. I definitely want to watch it live. I thought about trying to get a few hours sleep and waking up at 3:15, but I might just stay up, watch the game, and then go to bed. I don’t work on Saturday.

As for the players, I don’t know if the late game is a problem. At an elite level, even small changes can make a difference, but I have confidence that UConn will be ready.

Now this is devotion to a team right here!

 

[Bald Husky]

Let’s give Ed a break here. A little kvetching in the comments is par for the course. Blame the game time on UConn vs Stanford being considered the marquee match of the day. Louisville/SC kicks off here at 4, when people are still at work or school because it is not the draw that is the defending champs against the legendary program in NCAA Women’s Basketball.

The higher seed ( South Carolina ) always gets the early game no matter who the combatants are. That is why UConn, as the #2 seed, had to play the late game in Bridgeport and NCST, as the #1 seed, got to play the early game.

 

[Monte]

A REAL FAN, would stay up and watch the game if it started at 3:00 AM.

You can "rest" when the season is over!

 

[hoopsfan22]

During today's press conference Geno said it was unfair that the women had to have such a quick turnaround compared to the men because it gave very little time to prepare for the final four. He said the team got home at 2 AM Tuesday morning, slept, and then got on a plane to go to Minnesota, and only get a few days to get ready for the national semi-final game while the men get almost a whole week.

 

[Puppy Love]

My quibble with the late start is that is discourages kids in the 5 to 10 year old range from watching the game. I want those kids to see that young women can be athletes and superstars.

 

[Kaizen]

All I gotta say is, take that pre-game nap if you are over 60 and want to watch the game. If not, set that DVR.

Or watch @MJL243's replay here or in YouTube.

 

[triaddukefan]

The higher seed ( South Carolina ) always gets the early game no matter who the combatants are. That is why UConn, as the #2 seed, had to play the late game in Bridgeport and NCST, as the #1 seed, got to play the early game.

That's false. That wasn't the case in 2019 in either Greensboro or Albany. I'm sure there are other examples but that's the one that came to my head first.

 

[Carnac]

How dare ESPN not consult the Seniors from the east coast first when scheduling these games. I'm envious of Seniors from the west coast.

Yeah....that's 6:30 pm out here. It's still light outside, and it just around dinner time. Games don't start that late out here.

 

[Carnac]

We’re becoming a fan base of whiners

Whaddaya mean....becoming?