1. With the NCAA tournament beginning next week, CBS and Turner made some announcements about their coverage of March Madness.
The broadcast teams for the most part are the same as last year with the exception being the addition of Jalen Rose as a game analyst.
Ian Eagle, Bill Raftery, Grant Hill and Tracy Wolfson will call their second straight Final Four. Ernie Johnson, Adam Zucker and Adam Lefkoe will handle studio duty. The Final Four this year will air on CBS.
All of that is just fine and dandy.
But there is one aspect of the tournament that remains one of the worst things in all of sports. It was announced that once again, the national championship will tip off at 8:50 p.m. ET.
And if you’re a sports fan, you know 8:50 really means 9 p.m., if we’re lucky.
Amazingly, this is an improvement. Last year, the title game started at 9:20 pm ET. While tipping off a half hour earlier is much appreciated, it’s still nto enough.
Yes, college basketball games are shorter than a football game or a baseball game and most other sports. But the reality is a championship game on a Monday night ending between 11:30 p.m. and midnight on the East Coast is just a kick to the groin of every sports fan who will watch the game.
Given the trend of where the national championship viewership numbers have gone over the last several years, it makes sense to change the start time.
2024: 14.82 million
2023: 14.69 million
2022 17.66 million
2021: 17.08 million
2019: 19.6 million
2018: 15.96 million
2017: 22.99 million
2016: 17.75 million
2015: 28.26 million
There is no reason though, the championship game shouldn’t tip off at 8 p.m. I’d even take 8:30 p.m.
2. I say this with all seriousness: This is one of the best in-between-quarters challenges I’ve ever seen. This should be its own event. Kudos to the Sacramento Kings for coming up with the Perfect Pump Challenge.
He really hit the perfect pump 🔥😂 pic.twitter.com/qifZjbzwuS
— br_betting (@br_betting) March 11, 2025
3. The NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport had a notable way of trying to get attention Monday to break free-agency news while other people on the set were speaking.
4.
5. It’s not that MLB always seems to have issues with its uniforms, hats and other apparel. It’s that there are people who actually approve these things. The latest disaster comes in the form of these atrocious hats.
6. The latest episode of SI Media With Jimmy Traina features a conversation with The Ringer’s editor-at-large, Bryan Curtis, about all the latest sports media news.
Topics covered with Curtis include ESPN cancelling Around the Horn after 23 years and the status of the show's host, Tony Reali; Jimmy Johnson retiring from Fox NFL Sunday and what Fox may do for a replacement; Hard Knocks’s deal with the University of North Carolina and Bill Belichick falling apart; what the MLB-ESPN divorce means for each company and much more.
Following Curtis, Sal Licata from WFAN radio and SNY TV in New York joins me for our weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week’s topics include Luka Doncic’s impact on the Lakers’ watchability, the shocking John Cena heel turn and Sal’s recent experience in Disney World. The segment closes with Jimmy reading and reacting to Apple reviews for theSI Media With Jimmy Traina.
You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast below or on Apple and Spotify.
You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Sports Illustrated’s YouTube channel.
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: I should’ve posted this yesterday before the Seth Rollins–CM Punk cage match at Madison Square Garden on Monday Night Raw, but one of my first memories of wrestling as a kid was the famous Jimmy Snuka–Magnificent Muraco cage match at MSG. This was a big reason I got into the WWF.
Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on X and Instagram.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Start Time for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Title Game Is One of the Worst Things in Sports.
