NCAA moves men’s basketball title game to earlier time

The Indianapolis-based NCAA has turned back the clock 30 minutes for the start of its men’s basketball tournament championship game.

Gone is the 9:20 p.m. tipoff time that challenged all but the biggest fans to remain awake for “One Shining Moment.” This year’s championship game in San Antonio, Texas, will start at 8:50 p.m. on Monday, April 7.

That follows the 2022 decision to move up kickoff in the College Football Playoff championship game starting in 2023. That game also takes place on a Monday night and was bumped up from an 8 p.m. start, with the Jan. 20 game between the Ohio State University and the University of Notre Dame kicking off at 7:45.

World Series games, another target of viewers’ ire, continued to start at 8:08 p.m. last year. NBA Finals games last year were scheduled for 8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

The NCAA’s move comes after last year’s championship basketball game drew barely improved ratings over 2023’s historic low and were dwarfed by the women’s title game between the University of Iowa and South Carolina.

The men’s game between the University of Connecticut and Purdue University drew 14.8 million viewers across TBS, TNT and TruTV, according to Nielsen. That was a slight increase over the 2023 game between Connecticut and San Diego State (14.7 million) but still was the second-lowest-rated ever.

The women’s final, which took place on Sunday afternoon, drew 18.7 million viewers across ESPN and ABC, becoming the most-watched women’s basketball game ever.

There has been no change to the tipoff time for this year’s women’s championship game, which will start at 3 p.m. on April 6 in Tampa.

The 2026 and the 2029 men’s basketball title games will be played as part of the Final Four at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The women’s Final Four will be played at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis in 2028.