Weird start times for NCAAT at PPG

[Sean Miller Fan]

Been to every NCAAT game in Pgh with a few exceptions:

2002 evening session (the non-Pitt session)
2012 didnt go at all (CBI year)

Its always been noon a start. The 2nd Round had always been a noon start with the exception of the Nova/NC St and ND/Butler doubleheader which was a Saturday night. But Thursday is 1:30, 4, 7, 9:30. Essentially a quadruple header with no break between sessions. So we have to exit after the Oregon/South Carolina game and then go right back in. BTW, Pgh hasnt been kind to South Carolina. They lost to Coppin State as a 2 seed in 1997. Glad I waited to buy tickets because that Thursday afternoon doubleheader is horrendous and secondary market tickets are super cheap. All the tickets are sold though, which is always the case in Pittsburgh. I was in Greensboro last year and not even Kentucky could sell that place out. Greensboro is a terrible basketball town if UNC, Duke, or NC St arent playing.

 

[upj87]

Been to every NCAAT game in Pgh with a few exceptions:

2002 evening session (the non-Pitt session)
2012 didnt go at all (CBI year)

Its always been noon a start. The 2nd Round had always been a noon start with the exception of the Nova/NC St and ND/Butler doubleheader which was a Saturday night. But Thursday is 1:30, 4, 7, 9:30. Essentially a quadruple header with no break between sessions. So we have to exit after the Oregon/South Carolina game and then go right back in. BTW, Pgh hasnt been kind to South Carolina. They lost to Coppin State as a 2 seed in 1997. Glad I waited to buy tickets because that Thursday afternoon doubleheader is horrendous and secondary market tickets are super cheap. All the tickets are sold though, which is always the case in Pittsburgh. I was in Greensboro last year and not even Kentucky could sell that place out. Greensboro is a terrible basketball town if UNC, Duke, or NC St arent playing.

Pittsburgh Metro Area population....2,349,172
Greensboro Metro Area population....776,566

 

[Islanderpanther]

Been to every NCAAT game in Pgh with a few exceptions:

2002 evening session (the non-Pitt session)
2012 didnt go at all (CBI year)

Its always been noon a start. The 2nd Round had always been a noon start with the exception of the Nova/NC St and ND/Butler doubleheader which was a Saturday night. But Thursday is 1:30, 4, 7, 9:30. Essentially a quadruple header with no break between sessions. So we have to exit after the Oregon/South Carolina game and then go right back in. BTW, Pgh hasnt been kind to South Carolina. They lost to Coppin State as a 2 seed in 1997. Glad I waited to buy tickets because that Thursday afternoon doubleheader is horrendous and secondary market tickets are super cheap. All the tickets are sold though, which is always the case in Pittsburgh. I was in Greensboro last year and not even Kentucky could sell that place out. Greensboro is a terrible basketball town if UNC, Duke, or NC St arent playing.

They want you to stay in the arena between sessions and spend $35 on a beer and a wilted weenie.

 

[Rupart33]

They want you to stay in the arena between sessions and spend $35 on a beer and a wilted weenie.

No they don't, they'll make you exit since there are different tickets for the second session. But the times are not good and will make grabbing dinner between rounds nearly impossible. So most will likely re-enter and spend their $35 in the arena.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

No they don't, they'll make you exit since there are different tickets for the second session. But the times are not good and will make grabbing dinner between rounds nearly impossible. So most will likely re-enter and spend their $35 in the arena.

Yea, the restaurant (notice no plural) near the arena cant be happy. We have to leave and go right back in and eat dinner while watching Kentucky warm up.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

They seem to have screwed up the starting times this year. Or maybe that isn't the way to put it, it's more like they seem to not be paying any attention at all to where the games are being played when they set the starting times this year.

For instance, the games in Pittsburgh are starting at 1:30 but the games in Omaha are starting at 12:40, which of course is 11:40 local time. But then in the evening sessions, the last game of the day should be the game being played in Salt Lake City, what with them being in the Mountain time zone, but instead Omaha has the latest tip offs in the evening session.

Then on Friday, the session in Spokane, Washington starts at 1:45, which means 10:45 am local time. But the games in Indianapolis start at 2:00. Which is, of course, 2:00 local time. I know the Pacific time zone sites aren't ever going to get "normal" times, but why is Spokane not the latest start time of the four? Why are the four sites not starting in the order of Brooklyn, Indianapolis, Memphis, Spokane, east to west?

And then they do the same sort of thing in the late session with Indianapolis that they are doing in Pittsburgh. The second game is scheduled to tip at 4:30. The third game tips at 7:25. So again, IF everything goes according to plan, less than one hour from the end of game two to clear out the arena and then refill it for the evening session.

 

[PittGuy00]

All the tickets are not sold. If you look on ticketmaster there are still face value tickets(not verified resale) for all 3 sessions. Agree that all the start times are weird. What if the 4pm game goes long. Will they push the 7:10 back so everyone can leave and just keep everyone with session 2 tickets outside?

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

All the tickets are not sold. If you look on ticketmaster there are still face value tickets(not verified resale) for all 3 sessions. Agree that all the start times are weird. What if the 4pm game goes long. Will they push the 7:10 back so everyone can leave and just keep everyone with session 2 tickets outside?

Unless the first session runs really, really long they will not push back the start of the second session by any appreciable amount. The first game of the second session will just tip off with people still trying to get into the building. Because they are catering to the television people, and the television people want the games to start on time.

 

[PittGuy00]

Seems like a logistical nightmare

 

[pitt-girl]

Pittsburgh Metro Area population....2,349,172
Greensboro Metro Area population....776,566

Maybe why having these games in larger cities makes more sense? Why Greensboro?

 

[JD1976]

Maybe why having these games in larger cities makes more sense? Why Greensboro?

Greensboro is attractive mainly because it is the largest arena by capacity in the entire country with over 22,000 seats (the Dome in Syracuse is much larger, of course, but in terms of pure basketball/hockey arenas it is the largest).

Also, Greensboro manages to host the ACC Tournament regularly so I would imagine an NCAA Tourney would be a relative piece of cake to host compared to the ACC Tourney.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

All the tickets are not sold. If you look on ticketmaster there are still face value tickets(not verified resale) for all 3 sessions. Agree that all the start times are weird. What if the 4pm game goes long. Will they push the 7:10 back so everyone can leave and just keep everyone with session 2 tickets outside?

I was looking at it. The prices for the evening session tomorrow and the Saturday session have not changed from what they were when they went on sale. Which probably makes sense, because there aren't a lot of those that aren't resale tickets available.

But the afternoon session tomorrow? Upper level tickets, not resale tickets, first time tickets from the NCAA, are now selling for $30. Which is a huge discount from the original face value.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Unless the first session runs really, really long they will not push back the start of the second session by any appreciable amount. The first game of the second session will just tip off with people still trying to get into the building. Because they are catering to the television people, and the television people want the games to start on time.

Right. Plus that 7:10 Kentucky game is CBS primetime.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

They seem to have screwed up the starting times this year. Or maybe that isn't the way to put it, it's more like they seem to not be paying any attention at all to where the games are being played when they set the starting times this year.

For instance, the games in Pittsburgh are starting at 1:30 but the games in Omaha are starting at 12:40, which of course is 11:40 local time. But then in the evening sessions, the last game of the day should be the game being played in Salt Lake City, what with them being in the Mountain time zone, but instead Omaha has the latest tip offs in the evening session.

Then on Friday, the session in Spokane, Washington starts at 1:45, which means 10:45 am local time. But the games in Indianapolis start at 2:00. Which is, of course, 2:00 local time. I know the Pacific time zone sites aren't ever going to get "normal" times, but why is Spokane not the latest start time of the four? Why are the four sites not starting in the order of Brooklyn, Indianapolis, Memphis, Spokane, east to west?

And then they do the same sort of thing in the late session with Indianapolis that they are doing in Pittsburgh. The second game is scheduled to tip at 4:30. The third game tips at 7:25. So again, IF everything goes according to plan, less than one hour from the end of game two to clear out the arena and then refill it for the evening session.

TV plays the largest role in start times. However, I'm not sure I've ever seen a straight-up quadruple header with essentially no break like at PPG tomorrow. Then the Spokane games tipping at 10:45 AM while Indy gets 2PM in what I am guessing is another no-break quadruple header.

I am pretty sure CBS gets the first choice of these games while the worst of them go to truTV. Looks like CBS selected Mich St/Miss St and UNC/Wagner for their noon/2:30 slots then UK/Oakland and NC St/TT for 7&9:30. That's 3 blue bloods (or close to it) plus good markets for the cupcake teams. Not sure anyone in Detroit or NYC care about Oakland or Wagner but it couldn't hurt.

The worst games go to truTV so it would appear that Turner thought Creighton/Akron & South Carolina/Oregon were better games than Duq/BYU & Ill/Morehead so PPG got the TNT games which start at 1:30.

Looking at the Spokane/Indy conundrum, Spokane, Spokane got truTV (worst games) which are Baylor/Colgate & Clem/New Mexico while Indy got TBS (Marq/WKU and Florida/Colorado/Boise). But if you are the NCAA and Turner, are those Thursday and Friday TBS and truTV games so much different that it warrants screwing up so many sites for the fans?

Also, really sucks for Duquesne that for their 1st appearance in 47 years, they get 12:40 on a Thursday when everyone is at school and work. Nobody in Pittsburgh is calling off specifically to watch Duquesne except maybe like 100 hardcore Duquesne fans. For their sake, it would have been nice to play in primetime so the average Yinzer could have watched them. And they dont get to "enjoy" being in it long as they'll be out shortly after lunch on Day 1.

 

[PittGuy00]

A Seems like a logistical nightmare

I was looking at it. The prices for the evening session tomorrow and the Saturday session have not changed from what they were when they went on sale. Which probably makes sense, because there aren't a lot of those that aren't resale tickets available.

But the afternoon session tomorrow? Upper level tickets, not resale tickets, first time tickets from the NCAA, are now selling for $30. Which is a huge discount from the original face value.

Yeah it’s pretty crazy that on seat geek right now you can get a ticket for session 1 for $17 and that’s after fees.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

Greensboro is attractive mainly because it is the largest arena by capacity in the entire country with over 22,000 seats (the Dome in Syracuse is much larger, of course, but in terms of pure basketball/hockey arenas it is the largest).

Also, Greensboro manages to host the ACC Tournament regularly so I would imagine an NCAA Tourney would be a relative piece of cake to host compared to the ACC Tourney.

Yeah my thoughts too. Greensboro coliseum is considerably larger and can seem cavernous if not full. Additionally, it has played host to plenty of tourneys through the years…with the ACC tourney first and foremost. The tourney is always a novelty in Pittsburgh, while just another basketball event in Greensboro.

 

[maxxwell]

How many first/second round locations are in the Eastern time zone? They want staggered starts. Can't start them all at 12:15. Night session is supposedly at 7:10. Maybe time for a beer across the street before reentering.

 

[NTOP]

Maybe why having these games in larger cities makes more sense? Why Greensboro?

Greensboro = fine cuisine.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

And they dont get to "enjoy" being in it long as they'll be out shortly after lunch on Day 1.

Oops

 

[mike10003]

I didn’t realize the Pens upgraded their jumbotron since the last time the tourney was here (last time I was in the arena). It’s a very nice setup now. And they showed plenty of live cut-ins to other games. Great night of games at PPG.

Also getting the 10 PM tip for Saturday. The NCAA is killing me.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

I didn’t realize the Pens upgraded their jumbotron since the last time the tourney was here (last time I was in the arena). It’s a very nice setup now. And they showed plenty of live cut-ins to other games. Great night of games at PPG.

Also getting the 10 PM tip for Saturday. The NCAA is killing me.

They may have wanted Kentucky/NC State for noon CBS but that went out the window. Funny thing is the only other time that Pittsburgh did NOT get the noon/230 2nd round slots was the year NC State beat 1 seed Nova (crying Nova band girl game).

As for the cut-ins, they showed the last 2 minutes of Duquesne live while the Creighton game was going on. I figured well, ok, the Creighton game is a blowout and Duquesne is the host. But apparently they also did this in Omaha during the Gonzaga/McNeese game for Ky/Oakland and Mark Few was pretty upset by it. FWIW, I dont think they should be doing that. If you care enough about a game, you should watch it on your smartphone.

 

[pitt-girl]

They may have wanted Kentucky/NC State for noon CBS but that went out the window. Funny thing is the only other time that Pittsburgh did NOT get the noon/230 2nd round slots was the year NC State beat 1 seed Nova (crying Nova band girl game).

As for the cut-ins, they showed the last 2 minutes of Duquesne live while the Creighton game was going on. I figured well, ok, the Creighton game is a blowout and Duquesne is the host. But apparently they also did this in Omaha during the Gonzaga/McNeese game for Ky/Oakland and Mark Few was pretty upset by it. FWIW, I dont think they should be doing that. If you care enough about a game, you should watch it on your smartphone.

Not sure what game exactly, but the announcers had to clarify that there was not an issue with the previous play; they were showing the 3 that Oakland hit to put them up by 5? over Ky and the crowd all reacted.

I thought it was great (especially because that game was not very competitive), but I could see where the HC could be upset.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Also getting the 10 PM tip for Saturday. The NCAA is killing me.

So Pittsburgh gets the latest games of the day, and Salt Lake City gets the earliest games, including one that starts at 10:45 AM local time.

The NCAA and their corporate partners really do not give a crap about the actual fans who go to the games anymore.

 

[upj87]

I didn’t realize the Pens upgraded their jumbotron since the last time the tourney was here (last time I was in the arena). It’s a very nice setup now. And they showed plenty of live cut-ins to other games. Great night of games at PPG.

Also getting the 10 PM tip for Saturday. The NCAA is killing me.

Also getting the 10 PM tip for Saturday....that's the one that gets me. If someone could explain why the Salt Lake City games go off at 12:45 and 3:15 Eastern time and Pittsburgh has the last game of the round going off at around 10 I'd love to know...just makes no sense...really limits a lot of your potential within shouting distance crowd..I'm 3 hours away and might consider heading home from Pittsburgh if I'm leaving the arena at 9pm. Sure as hell not considering it if I'm leaving at 12:15am...

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Also getting the 10 PM tip for Saturday....that's the one that gets me. If someone could explain why the Salt Lake City games go off at 12:45 and 3:15 Eastern time and Pittsburgh has the last game of the round going off at around 10 I'd love to know...just makes no sense...really limits a lot of your potential within shouting distance crowd..I'm 3 hours away and might consider heading home from Pittsburgh if I'm leaving the arena at 9pm. Sure as hell not considering it if I'm leaving at 12:15am...

There was a time that the NCAA took into account where the game were being played as well as what the television people wanted when they set the game times. This year, it is pretty obvious that the fans in the arena and the local start times have no bearing what so ever on which games get put into which time slots. It's what the television people want, and only what the television people want.

 

[upj87]

There was a time that the NCAA took into account where the game were being played as well as what the television people wanted when they set the game times. This year, it is pretty obvious that the fans in the arena and the local start times have no bearing what so ever on which games get put into which time slots. It's what the television people want, and only what the television people want.

I understand that to some degree but then I'm not sure of the television logic...Switch the Pittsburgh and Charlotte times with the Salt Lake City and Omaha games and what the hell is the difference TV-wise? Still waiting on someone who knows the logic involved in this..

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

There was a time that the NCAA took into account where the game were being played as well as what the television people wanted when they set the game times. This year, it is pretty obvious that the fans in the arena and the local start times have no bearing what so ever on which games get put into which time slots. It's what the television people want, and only what the television people want.

This is getting weirder and weirder. I was trying to plan my Saturday and figured for sure UNC/Michigan State and Tennessee/Texas would be the CBS "no competing games" games meaning Pgh would get night games. But CBS picked Arizona/Dayton and Kansas/Gonzaga??? Kansas/Gonzaga is a good game but they are both having down years. UNC and MSU are blue bloods or close to it and UNC as the 1 seed brings ratings. And the 2nd game, Ten/Tex, those are 2 brand names. Cant believe they felt that Az/Dayton and Kan/Gon were so much more superior to the Charlotte games that they are making the SLC locals wake up at dawn to attend a 10:45 AM tip and are making Az fans watch a 9:45 AM local time game. It makes no sense at all.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

This is getting weirder and weirder. I was trying to plan my Saturday and figured for sure UNC/Michigan State and Tennessee/Texas would be the CBS "no competing games" games meaning Pgh would get night games. But CBS picked Arizona/Dayton and Kansas/Gonzaga??? Kansas/Gonzaga is a good game but they are both having down years. UNC and MSU are blue bloods or close to it and UNC as the 1 seed brings ratings. And the 2nd game, Ten/Tex, those are 2 brand names. Cant believe they felt that Az/Dayton and Kan/Gon were so much more superior to the Charlotte games that they are making the SLC locals wake up at dawn to attend a 10:45 AM tip and are making Az fans watch a 9:45 AM local time game. It makes no sense at all.

Well I think what the CBS part of it is showing you is that they'd rather have the better doubleheader, meaning better from a television perspective, be the evening/prime time games rather than the early/afternoon games.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

I understand that to some degree but then I'm not sure of the television logic...Switch the Pittsburgh and Charlotte times with the Salt Lake City and Omaha games and what the hell is the difference TV-wise? Still waiting on someone who knows the logic involved in this..

Clearly CBS sees a difference, because they are the ones who picked which games they wanted in which time slots.

CBS is getting the North Carolina - Michigan State and Tennessee - Texas doubleheader as their evening/prime time doubleheader, and that's clearly the best of the four for television purposes.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Clearly CBS sees a difference, because they are the ones who picked which games they wanted in which time slots.

CBS is getting the North Carolina - Michigan State and Tennessee - Texas doubleheader as their evening/prime time doubleheader, and that's clearly the best of the four for television purposes.

My guess is that noon/230 CBS unopposed games get better ratings than Saturday primetime vs 1-2 other competing games.

Also, kinda sucks that Duquesne is up against games its hosting again. You used to not be allowed to play on the same day you host but they changed that 10-15 years ago.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

My guess is that noon/230 CBS unopposed games get better ratings than Saturday primetime vs 1-2 other competing games.

That would be your guess, but your guess is wrong.

Last year the second highest rated game of the second round was the 5:25 Saturday CBS game between Arkansas and Kansas. The only higher rated second round game was the 5:15 Sunday CBS game between Michigan State and Marquette. The only higher rated non-final four game was the Elite Eight game between Miami and Texas.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

That would be your guess, but your guess is wrong.

Last year the second highest rated game of the second round was the 5:25 Saturday CBS game between Arkansas and Kansas. The only higher rated second round game was the 5:15 Sunday CBS game between Michigan State and Marquette. The only higher rated non-final four game was the Elite Eight game between Miami and Texas.

Not giving all the info. One of the highest rated games of the tournament was the unopposed CBS game between KSt and Kentucky. Overall, those noon/2:30 games are going to get higher ratings than 5:30/8:00 all things being equal

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Not giving all the info. One of the highest rated games of the tournament was the unopposed CBS game between KSt and Kentucky. Overall, those noon/2:30 games are going to get higher ratings than 5:30/8:00 all things being equal

I absolutely am giving all the information. The top six highest rated games in last year's tournament were (in order) the Championship game, the two semifinals, the Elite Eight game between Miami and Texas, and then the second round game on Sunday on CBS at 5:15 and then the second round Saturday game on CBS at 5:25.

It is a fact, not an opinion or a guess, but a fact, that the late afternoon/early evening second round games on CBS got better ratings last year than the unopposed earlier games got. Just because that doesn't agree with your opinion doesn't mean that it's wrong. It just means that we've found another thing to add to the list of all the things that you know to be true that are, in fact, not true.

The only problem is that the list is so long we've run out of room to add things.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

They started the Arizona/Clemson at 1PM local time on a Thursday in Los Angeles. You would have had to leave at like noon to make it there with rush hour LA traffic. Also, its not exactly fair to Arizona fans watching at home to have the biggest game of the season in the afternoon on a weekday. Would it have killed CBS to put UNC/Bama on first?

Tonight, the Duke/Houston and Ten/Creighton game ran simultaneously. I say this every year but would it be so impossible to have 3 game windows for the Sweet 16?

6PM - CBS - East Regional
8PM - CBS - West Regional (starting on truTV if necessary)
8:30 - TBS - East Regional
10:30 - TBS - West Regional (starting on truTV if necessary)

Last night, UConn/SDSU could have started at 6PM in Boston. UNC/Bama at 5PM local time in LA. Then Az/Clem at 7:30 PM local time in LA.

Tonight, CBS could have done the Purdue/Gonzaga at 6 in Detroit and then Duke/Houston at 8 in Houston with TBS getting the late games.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Also, its not exactly fair to Arizona fans watching at home to have the biggest game of the season in the afternoon on a weekday.

Then Az/Clem at 7:30 PM local time in LA.

So to recap, it's unfair for Arizona fans that their game is on a weekday late afternoon, but it's no big deal for Clemson to have their game ending sometime close to 1 AM on a weekday.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

So to recap, it's unfair for Arizona fans that their game is on a weekday late afternoon, but it's no big deal for Clemson to have their game ending sometime close to 1 AM on a weekday.

Yea. Clemson fans are used to their CFP Championship games ending at 1AM.

If they would just listen to me, I'd move the Sweet 16 to Fri/Sun and Sat/Mon.

Friday games at 6/830 and 8/10:30. That's 3 windows instead of 2. And Saturday Sweet 16 games at 2, 4:30, 7, and 9:30. Monday Elite 8 games at 7 and 9:20. It really makes no sense that there are many 2nd Round "national" games with no other games running but they jam the Sweet 16 into 2 tight 2 windows

 

[happjack]

Yea. Clemson fans are used to their CFP Championship games ending at 1AM.

If they would just listen to me, I'd move the Sweet 16 to Fri/Sun and Sat/Mon.

Friday games at 6/830 and 8/10:30. That's 3 windows instead of 2. And Saturday Sweet 16 games at 2, 4:30, 7, and 9:30. Monday Elite 8 games at 7 and 9:20. It really makes no sense that there are many 2nd Round "national" games with no other games running but they jam the Sweet 16 into 2 tight 2 windows

For CBS games their affiliates would revolt at a 6pm work day start time, local news in that slot is the biggest money maker for those stations, they’re also not to keen on losing 7 to 8, which usually is Wheel and Jeopardy. Also, neither CBS or TBS want that early of a start due to the Central time zone, 5pm to 6pm is a dead zone ratings wise since folks are coming him from work and not in front of a tv.