I don't drink coffee but I'm going to need some coffee today. Thanks, NCAA.
This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.
Gooood morning, folks! Welcome back to the Morning Win. Thanks so much for taking a bit of time and reading today. We appreciate you.
I wouldn’t blame you if you went to nap right after reading this after watching last night’s national championship game.
The game was fine. It definitely wasn’t as compelling as we’d all have hoped. After a close first half, UConn completely pulled away from Purdue in the second half just like they’d been doing to teams all year.
The Huskies were, far and away, the best team in the country this year. Big shouts to Dan Hurley — he’s clearly the best coach in college hoops right now and I don’t think it’s particularly close. Hopefully, we can skip the “Is UConn a Blue Blood” conversation because the answer is so obviously yes. That’s what winning back-to-back championships gets you. This team has also won six championships since 1999. That’s better than Duke, UNC, Kentucky and whoever else you want to name. As far as I’m concerned, UConn is the best program in the nation right now.
RELATED: UConn’s national championship win had fans ranking them among the GOAT teams
But that’s a conversation for another day. We need to discuss the most important matter at hand right now: The game’s criminal 9:20 p.m. Eastern start time. No one was happy with this. That game was nowhere near good enough for all of us to be still watching at 11:30 at night.
The NCAA does this every single year, man. The tip-off for this game always comes randomly after 9 p.m. ET. Whatever calculations the NCAA does seem to indicate that 9:20 is the best start time for the game. Apparently, the numbers seem to indicate that this is the time when most people will watch the game.
Folks, this is why you can’t trust nerds. What happened to common sense? Are we really living life based on math equations here?
Nobody wants to watch a two-and-a-half-hour game at 9:20 on a Monday night? Especially when we’re watching Purdue play basketball. With all due respect, you might as well watch paint dry on a school night. That’s basically what we were doing.
It doesn’t have to be this way. The NCAA doesn’t have to torture us like this. Nothing is stopping them from changing this to a more reasonable time. There are no competing sports windows here. There are no other big games on that night. Just the national championship. There’s no excuse for this.
We deserve a more reasonable start time. Give us an 8 p.m. tipoff. Or maybe just do the game on a different night if it has to be this late. I don’t know what the solution is, man. But the NCAA needs to figure it out.
Because this right here? This ain’t it.
READ MORE: Here are the way-too-early national title odds for next season
(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
ESPN has released the viewership numbers for the women’s national championship game, and of course, the record books were shattered.
The game reportedly had an average of 18.7 million viewers and a peak of 24 million. This was the most-watched basketball game since 2019 on ESPN’s airwaves, according to the company.
'24 #NCAAWBB Natl. Championship ended the season with a bang on ABC & ESPN
18.7M viewers, peak 24M
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) April 8, 2024
See what happens when you broadcast the game at a decent time, NCAA?
In all seriousness, it’s good to see this viewership boom for women’s basketball. The stakes were high between Caitlin Clark’s quest for a championship and South Carolina’s undefeated season being on the line here. On top of that, this was yet another rematch from last season just like LSU vs. Iowa was. This was a must-see television event. I’m glad so many people saw it.
RELATED: Caitlin Clark is moving on. Now it’s time for real fans to show up
Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Dude. Does anyone want to coach at Kentucky? Nate Oats doesn’t. He tweeted out a nice statement about it. After winning another national championship, Dan Hurley doesn’t seem to want it either.
Neither does Jay Wright. His no is a definite no. Andrew Joseph has more here:
“Working the pregame show ahead of Monday’s national title game between UConn and Purdue, former Villanova coach Jay Wright confirmed that he had zero interest in the Kentucky vacancy. His no was so definitive that he wouldn’t even entertain a potential approach from Kentucky.”
For one of college basketball’s most prestigious programs, there sure does seem to be an astonishing lack of interest in this job from the biggest names in the sport right now. It’s strange. Maybe there’s something more to it.
Hopefully, we’ll find out a bit more when Kentucky finally makes its hire.
RELATED: The best five candidates for the Kentucky job with Oats and Wright out of the discussion
— Here’s a look at the latest One Shining Moment from the tournament. Love this so much every year. Cory Woodroof has you covered.
— Here’s Christian D’Andrea with an NFL Draft Big Board and the best fits for each player.
— Victor Wembanyana might have the best Nike logo next to the Jumpman. This is insanely good. Here’s Bryan Kalbrosky with more.
— Miss the solar eclipse yesterday? Charles Curtis has you covered here with these awesome photos.
— Speaking of the NFL draft, the WWE draft is happening at the same time. Nick Schwartz has more.
— Draymond Green calling out Zach Edey for quitting was so wrong. Bryan Kalbrosky has more.
That’s a wrap, folks. Thanks so much for reading today. We appreciate you. Let’s do this again tomorrow. Peace.
-Sykes 
