Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Between Editions: April 8
Texas Tech, including guard Matt Mooney (13), goes for its first national basketball championship tonight. (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
No matter the outcome, college basketball fans will get to see a bit of history when the Virginia Cavaliers and the Texas Tech Red Raiders face off during tonight's men's national championship game.
This year marks the first time Texas Tech's men's basketball team has ever advanced past the Elite Eight, though the Lady Raiders won the women's basketball title in 1993. Virginia's men's team had made it to the Final Four twice before -- losing to North Carolina at the Spectrum in Philadelphia in 1981 and to Houston (and All-American center Akeem Olajuwon) in 1984.
On Sunday morning, a crowd of fans got so rowdy celebrating Texas Tech's Final Four win over Michigan State (which included flipping over cars and setting multiple fires) that police in Lubbock used tear gas to break things up.
"We are proud, and excited, for Texas Tech, but behavior like this will not be tolerated," the city of Lubbock said in a statement. "We want Red Raider fans to support the team and celebrate lawfully and responsibly. We are on the national stage so make Lubbock proud."
As a result, Texas Tech took the preventive step of canceling all classes for Monday night and Tuesday. Classes will resume Wednesday.
Regardless of the excitement this year's NCAA tournament has offered, expect tonight's game (without a stand-out star and featuring two teams known for their defenses) to be among the lowest-rated men's national championship games in recent memory, though it will almost certainly beat out the 9.2 rating Villanova drew in its win over Michigan last year on Turner.
Ratings for Saturday's Final Four were something of a mixed bag for CBS. As the network proudly announced on Sunday, the two games averaged an 8.8 overnight rating, up 13 percent from last year on TBS, TNT, and TruTV, which averaged a 7.8 overnight rating. But according to Sports Media Watch, the ratings were down 15 percent from the 10.4 ratings CBS drew in 2017.
When: Monday, April 8
Where: U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis
Time: 7:20 p.m. MDT tipoff
TV: CBS (Jim Nantz, Grant Hill, Bill Raftery, Tracy Wolfson)
Streaming: CBS All Access (requires subscription), NCAA March Madness Live (requires authentication), Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, Sling TV, Playstation Vue, DirectTV Now, Fubo TV (all require a subscription).
