Revelation of 3-Point Line Discrepancy in NCAA Tournament: Coaches Choose to Play on Despite Awareness

On Sunday, the NCAA Tournament at Moda Center in Portland experienced a discrepancy in the 3-point line distance at each end of the court during four games over two days. This issue was not noticed until Texas and N.C. State were preparing to play their Elite Eight matchup. Despite being aware of the problem, both teams’ coaches decided to proceed with the game as scheduled, rather than delay it to correct the court.

Interestingly, the problem went unnoticed during the four Sweet 16 games held on Friday and Saturday prior to the Elite Eight matchup. The NCAA released a statement acknowledging the discrepancy and explaining that the two head coaches were informed of the issue just 15 minutes before tipoff on Sunday. After discussions between NCAA representatives, coaches, and officials, it was decided that the game would proceed as planned.

Before Monday’s Elite Eight game between Southern California and UConn, NCAA officials confirmed that they had corrected the 3-point line distance across the court to ensure consistency throughout all remaining games in the tournament.