FORT WORTH
The reward that the NCAA and ESPN delivered to TCU and Fort Worth was a nice slap in the face with a bowl full of ripped-up losing lottery tickets.
For winning the Big 12 regular-season title for the second consecutive year, the TCU women’s basketball team was not only not put in the Fort Worth region for the potential Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games at Dickies Arena, but also handed a pair of start times for their opening round games that resulted in half-empty arenas.
On Sunday, TCU hosted the University of Washington in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Schollmaier Arena in an exciting game that ended at 11:16 p.m. That’s Central time.
That’s ridiculous.
According to NCAA Tournament officials, TCU’s NCAA round of 32 tournament overtime win over Washington on drew about 4,300 fans in an arena that seats roughly 6,800. That should not happen for a home second-round NCAA Tournament game, and this entirely falls on the NCAA and broadcast warden — sorry, partner — ESPN.
When TCU defeated Louisville in the second round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament in Fort Worth, the announced attendance was 7,494. Explaining this dramatic drop is not complicated.
Nine-Oh-Five. A 9:05 p.m. Central time tipoff is a sports crime.
“If this was at any [other] time — 2, 4, 6 — it’s a sellout,” TCU coach Mark Campbell said. “For a late-night tip, to have that crowd and energy … Fort Worth has been incredible. It’s why we have the [nation’s] longest home court winning streak [44 games].
“Yes, I wish it was earlier, but we’re moving on to the Sweet 16, so I’m good with it.”
This was followed by a start time for TCU’s first-round game of 11 a.m. on Friday, a game that drew closer to 4,000.
‘Kinda crazy’ situation
For a sport that needs all the help it can get, women’s basketball too often makes the NHL look like the NFL.
Women’s basketball coaches and administrators refuse to accept that their product is not men’s basketball, and while they play the same game, there are still differences. Whatever the reason, you can’t do what the NCAA/ESPN did to TCU on Sunday night.
“Getting older fans out here at 9 p.m. on Sunday is kinda crazy,” TCU guard Olivia Miles said after the game.
Call this an accurate joke. Women’s basketball relies on young families, and retirees, to fill up seats. A 9 p.m. tip runs off both demographics. TCU was lucky that its students were back from spring break.
Sunday’s tip time at TCU was the result of a bracket where the only viable “late” game for TV happened to be in the Central time zone.
“There’s no West Coast teams hosting [on Sunday],” Campbell said. “So you’re kind of all jammed up on this side of the country. We got the short end of the stick. It is what it is. I will never complain about it. And we still had a great environment, great crowd.”
A great environment and great crowd that should have been better.
Marta Suarez has 8 a.m. class
TCU players Taylor Bigby, Marta Suarez and Miles and Campbell met with the media starting at 11:48 p.m. We all know that the power conference NCAA “student-athlete” is a charade for a lot of the players, but some of these kids do have class on Monday morning.
“I have an 8 a.m. class [Monday],” Suarez said. “If Dr. Lemon is watching this, text me.”
Scheduling these big tournaments is always a mess, and sometimes there is no way around an unfortunate tip time. In the case of the men’s NCAA Tournament on Sunday, the evening slate was crammed with six games in a six-hour stretch on four networks.
And what the NCAA and ESPN did to TCU and Washington on Sunday night is a disservice to the teams, the game and the host institution.
You can’t schedule a women’s basketball game on Sunday at 9 p.m.
Game schedule dates, times, locations March 13 Cleveland 138, Mavericks 105 March 15 Mavericks 130, Cleveland 120 March 16 New Orleans 129, Mavericks 111 March 18 Atlanta 135, Mavericks 120 March 21 L.A. Clippers 138, Mavericks 131 (OT) March 23 vs. Golden State, 8:30 p.m., Peacock, NBC Sports Network March 25 at Denver, 9 p.m., KFAA, MavsTV March 27 at Portland, 9 p.m., KFAA, MavsTV, NBA TV March 30 vs. Minnesota, 7:30 p.m., KFAA, MavsTV March 31 at Milwaukee, 7 p.m., KFAA, MavsTV March 7 TCU 73, Cincinnati 63 Big 12 Tournament (at Kansas City, Mo.) March 11 No. 6 TCU 95, No. 14 Oklahoma State 88 (second round) March 12 No. 3 Kansas 78, No. 6 TCU 73 (quarterfinals) NCAA Tournament (at Greenville, S.C.) March 19 No. 9 TCU 66, No. 8 Ohio State 64 (first round) March 21 No. 1 Duke 81, No. 9 TCU 58 (second round) March 1 TCU 65, Baylor 53 Big 12 Tournament (at Kansas City, Mo.) March 6 No. 1 TCU 63, No. 9 BYU 46 (quarterfinals) March 7 No. 1 TCU 74, No. 12 Kansas State 62 (semifinals) March 8 No. 2 West Virginia 62, No. 1 TCU 53 (championship) NCAA Tournament Opening rounds (at Schollmaier Arena) March 20 No. 3 TCU 86, No. 14 UC San Diego 40 (first round) March 22 No. 3 TCU 62, No. 6 Washington 59 (OT) (second round) Sacramento Regional March 27 or 28 vs. No. 2 Iowa or No. 10 Virginia (Sweet 16), TBD March 26 at Philadelphia, 3:15 p.m., RSN March 28 at Philadelphia, 3:05 p.m., RSN March 29 at Philadelphia, 12:35 p.m., RSN March 30 at Baltimore, 5:35 p.m., RSN March 31 at Baltimore, 5:35 p.m., RSN April 1 at Baltimore, 11:35 a.m., RSN March 13 TCU 5, Arizona State 4 March 14 Arizona State 15, TCU 8 March 15 Arizona State 4, TCU 0 March 17 TCU 16, New Mexico State 6 (7 innings) March 20 Central Florida 18, TCU 7 March 21 TCU 6, Central Florida 0 March 22 Central Florida 9, TCU 1 March 24 at Dallas Baptist, 6 p.m., ESPN+ March 27 vs. Texas Tech, 6 p.m., ESPN+ March 28 vs. Texas Tech, 2 p.m., ESPN+ March 29 vs. Texas Tech, 1 p.m., ESPN+ March 31 vs. Lamar, 6 p.m., ESPN+ March 14 Stars 3, Detroit 2 (OT) March 16 Utah 6, Stars 3 March 18 Stars 2, Colorado 1 (SO) March 21 Minnesota 2, Stars 1 (OT) March 22 Vegas 3, Stars 2 March 24 vs. New Jersey, 7 p.m., KDFI 27, Victory+ March 26 at N.Y. Islanders, 6 p.m., Victory+ March 28 at Pittsburgh, 4 p.m., Victory+ March 29 at Philadelphia, 6 p.m., Victory+ March 31 at Boston, 6 p.m., Fox, Victory+ 2026 season Aug. 29 vs. North Carolina (at Dublin), TBA Sept. 12 vs. Grambling State, TBA Sept. 19 vs. Arkansas State, TBA Sept. 26 at Central Florida, TBA Oct. 3 vs. BYU, TBA Oct. 17 at Baylor, TBA Oct. 24 vs. West Virginia, TBA Oct. 31 vs. Kansas, TBA Nov. 7 at Arizona, TBA Nov. 14 vs. Kansas State, TBA Nov. 21 vs. Utah, TBA Nov. 28 at Texas Tech, TBA 2026 season TBA vs. TBA (at Rio de Janeiro), TBA 2026 opponents (dates and times TBA; one home game will be in Rio) vs. N.Y Giants vs. Philadelphia vs. Washington vs. Arizona vs. San Francisco vs. Tampa Bay vs. Jacksonville vs. Tennessee vs. Baltimore at N.Y Giants at Philadelphia at Washington at L.A. Rams at Seattle at Green Bay at Houston at Indianapolis Feb. 21 FC Dallas 3, Toronto 2 Feb. 28 FC Dallas 0, Nashville 0 March 7 LAFC 1, FC Dallas 0 March 14 FC Dallas 3, San Diego 3 March 21 FC Dallas 4, Houston 3 April 4 at D.C. United, 6:30 p.m., Apple TV April 11 vs. St. Louis, 7:30 p.m., Apple TV April 18 vs. LA Galaxy, 7:30 p.m., Apple TV April 22 vs. Minnesota, 7:30 p.m., Apple TV April 25 at Seattle, 9:30 p.m., Apple TV March 28 Mopar Heaven April 11 NASCAR Racing Experience April 18 Team Texas-David Starr’s Racing School April 18 Bubble Run April 23-25 Pate Swap Meet April 25 FuelFest April 30-May 2 High Limit Racing Stockyard Stampede May 1 NASCAR Truck Series: SpeedyCash.com 250 May 2 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series: Andy’s Frozen Custard 340 May 3 NASCAR Cup Series: Wurth 400
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Mac Engel is an award-winning columnist who has covered sports since the dawn of man; Cowboys, TCU, Stars, Rangers, Mavericks, etc. Olympics. Movies. Concerts. Books. He combines dry wit with 1st-person reporting to complement an annoying personality.
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