East Coast Dads rejoice! The NCAA and CBS have seen the error of their ways, announcing an earlier start time for the Men’s College Basketball National Championship Game.
While still late, the new start time is better than the alternative and should help people get to bed before midnight this season. So, what’s the new National Championship time slot, and does it make sense?
When is the Men’s College Basketball National Championship
The term “March Madness” really is a misnomer as the most pivotal matchups of the entire NCAA Tournament occur in April. That’s the case again in 2025, as the National Championship will be played on Sunday, April 6.
The kicker is that instead of the obnoxiously late 9:20 p.m. ET start, the NCAA has decided to move the game up half an hour to 8:50.
🚨 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
That’s still late (especially as a father of two little ones who lives on the East Coast) but it’s substantially better than the alternative, which was far too late. While regular season college basketball games often finish in two hours, tournament games often go longer.
A longer halftime, more fouls, reviews, and the dreaded increase in commercials has often pushed the National Championship past midnight … on a Sunday.
By the time the impressively-quick video editors finish “One Shining Moment,” it can be close to 1 a.m. on the East Coast.
Also See: Jan. 28 Bubble Watch
The change is a step in the right direction, as the NCAA has apparently realized that some people work real jobs or have young kids. While I’d still prefer the game to start closer to 8 or even 7 ET, I recognize that networks are trying to maximize viewership across time zones.
Still, pushing the start past 9 ET excludes a large portion of the country, a time zone that has produced four of the last six championship game participants.
Moving the game to 8:50 ET should help the NCAA capture more East Coast viewers without spurning the Pacific time zone.
It’s certainly a step in the right direction.
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