The NCAA Tournament is the pinnacle of college basketball and one of the most prominent sports tournaments in the country. But the NCAA had some major problems head of the Elite Eight game between NC State and Texas in the women’s tournament.
On Sunday, the NCAA admitted that the three point lines were not a consistent distance from the basket from one side of the court to the other, which is obviously a pretty significant mistake for such a prestigious tournament.
“The three-point lines are different on each side of the court in Portland for the Elite Eight. The NCAA measured pregame and confirmed one side is a different three-point length than the other.
NC State and Texas agreed to play through it. #MarchMadness,” Awful Announcing said in a post on X, the social media website that was formerly known as Twitter.
The three-point lines are different on each side of the court in Portland for the Elite Eight. The NCAA measured pregame and confirmed one side is a different three-point length than the other. 🤦
NC State and Texas agreed to play through it. 🏀 #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/UnBo13kBUi
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 31, 2024
The good news is that since both teams have to play on both sides of the court, no team had an advantage over the other unless the game were to go to overtime.
Still, it’s a pretty horrible mistake for the NCAA to make on the biggest stage of women’s college basketball in such an absolutely massive tournament.