Women's NCAA Championship Set, But Without Primetime TV Slot

Mississippi State and South Carolina square off Sunday night in Dallas for the NCAA Women's Tournament title, but the game will "not have its accustomed prime-time slot on ESPN." Instead, the game will start at 6:00pm ET, ahead of the 8:30pm coverage of Cubs-Cardinals. This year's women's Final Four is being played Friday-Sunday, but ESPN said that it would have "preferred to retain the Sunday-Tuesday format" (N.Y. TIMES, 4/1). Meanwhile, with Spurs-Thunder airing on ESPN on Friday night, the women's semifinals were on ESPN2. ESPN analyst Kara Lawson: "The semifinals were always on ESPN. That's a big deal in TV. ... I don't think it's a great move" (HARTFORD COURANT, 3/31).

Mississippi State on Friday ended UConn's 111-game winning streak "in front of a sellout crowd" in OT. Most fans were "on their feet," including Cowboys QB Dak Prescott, who attended MSU (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 4/1).