The NCAA has moved up the start of the NCAA men's basketball championship game, beginning with the 2025 title game

The NCAA has announced an earlier start time for the men's basketball National Championship Game in 2025, with tipoff scheduled for 8:50 p.m. ET.

The NCAA announced Tuesday that the March Madness game’s tip-off time had been moved up to 8:50 p.m. ET from its traditional start time of 9:20 p.m. It’s a welcome move for many after the game has long taken more than two hours to complete and pushed up against midnight in the Eastern time zone.

Gone is the 9:20 p.m. tip-off time that challenged all but the biggest fans to remain awake for “One Shining Moment.” This year’s championship game in San Antonio will start at 8:50 p.m. Eastern on April 7 and perhaps may head off a bit of the deluge of social media criticism that comes like clockwork every year.

The NCAA has announced that it is moving up the start time for the 2025 college basketball national championship game.

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For years now, there has been the same complaint lodged about the national title game of the men's NCAA Tournament: it starts too late. The tip-off time of 9:20 p.m. ET for the men's final has generated criticism from fans and media members alike.