Everyone will be tuning into the National Championship Game — or, those who stay awake through the late start.
There are few games on the sports calendar as massive as the National Championship Game. Maybe more than any sport, the pride on the line with college athletics is unreal, and that all comes to a head at the end of March Madness.
Of course, no all things come easy. For Michigan and Villanova, it’s been a hard-fought road to the title game. For the folks at home watching, we’re going to have to brave the late hour the game tips off.
Rather than start at a reasonable time, the National Championship doesn’t tip until 9:20 pm ET. At the risk of sounds like an old-young person, that’s too damn late.
Lots of people agreed.
Is there any particular reason this game has to tip off at 9:20? Like if it tipped off that 8 pm wouldn't it still be in prime time? 9:20 ensures many kids who have school tomorrow won't see most of the second half
— Paul Zeise (@PaulZeise) April 3, 2018
whoever scheduled this for 9:20 is the devil
— mgoblog (@mgoblog) April 2, 2018
Why does the game have to start at 8:20??
— Frank (@frankiej2K) April 2, 2018
“We need to get the youth more involved in sporting events” they said...starting the NC game at 8:20 CDT is beyond dumb. My daughter (who wanted to watch) will see 0 seconds. Most kids will be asleep at halftime.
— Jordan Roth (@JJRoth15) April 2, 2018
Why the heck is the game tonight starting at 9:20 pm est? 8pm was too early?
— Geoff Schwartz (@geoffschwartz) April 2, 2018
At one point during the pregame, Ernie Johnson almost mockingly told us that we still had close to an hour to go before tip off. It was 8:30pm ET when he said that, and it stung.
It’s deeply stupid that the game started as late as it did. This is a huge national event, so it’s understandable that there needed to be some lead-up. But that’s what the rest of the bracket is for, to build the suspense of who will win the game.
Let’s just be thankful that Loyola lost in the Final Four. Sister Jean can’t be staying up that late into the night. Michigan and Villanova fans, on the other hand, will have to brave the late hour to see if their team can deliver glory.