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It’s become such a running joke that it’s likely the ACC kept it the same way because they loved torturing people who always griped about it. For years, the starting times of the ACC Tournament would always have game two of a set separated by only two hours. So, even though the schedule read: “Noon, 2 PM, 7 PM, 9 PM,” anyone who had ever watched a college basketball game knew it was more like “Noon, 2:30ish, 7 PM, 9:30ish...if you’re lucky.”
As someone who is familiar with the old “roll the cart into the classroom” move on Quarterfinal Friday, this has been something that is just embedded into my DNA. When you see that your team is scheduled for the second game, you automatically add at least 30 minutes to the start time. It was always fun when that break coincided with a class change over for the afternoon session, and to be honest whenever the Tar Heels played at Noon my parents just pulled me out early for us to enjoy some Pizza Hut because...I had good parents.
So, when you see that Carolina is set to play Notre Dame today at 9 PM, your first instinct is going to be to assume that’s really 9:30-9:40. But as with so many things that we’ve gotten used to, 2021 has brought about change. This year, the ACC finally bowed to the fact that a basketball game lasts two hours, not 90 minutes, and with Covid in the air, asking teams for an immediate changeover is near impossible. Thus, the bracket now accurately reflects times. Today the action starts at noon, and then the next game is listed as tipping off at 2:30. Then game three will be at 6:30 PM, yes, 6:30 PM, meaning the last game will actually tip off around 9 PM. This is a double shot of good news: not only is the schedule actually correct, but fans thinking they were going to have to stay up till midnight will actually get to call it a day at a normal time.
Remember that when making your plans, and stay tuned to Tar Heel Blog as we preview the game against the Irish, which came about because of a shot that likely caused some PTSD for Carolina fans, so let’s just move on. Here are the details:
- Time: 9 PM ET, and actually (probably) 9 PM.
- Location: Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, NC
- TV: ACCN, the last time a basketball game will appear here for this season. Dan Shulman and Jay Bilas on the call.
- Radio: Tar Heel Sports Network (list of affiliates) with Jones Angell on play-by-play and Eric Montross on analysis. To get the THSN broadcast on Sirius XM, tune to channel 80 (internet 80).
- Streaming: The ACC Network TV coverage of the game can be seen on Watch ESPN on your various devices. THSN’s radio broadcast can be heard on GoHeels.com and Tune In.