Five NCAA women’s basketball tournament games — all at Moda Center in Portland — were played with different-length three-point arcs on either side of the court. That has included four Sweet 16 matchups Friday and Saturday, then North Carolina State’s 76-66 win over Texas in the Elite Eight on Sunday.[1] Coaches for the Wolfpack and the Longhorns were alerted to the discrepancy shortly before tip-off, but they ultimately decided to start on time rather than delay the game to fix the court. A fan sitting in the 300 level noticed the difference and posted a picture on Reddit.
The arc in front of N.C. State’s bench was shorter than it was supposed to be, according to Wolfpack Coach Wes Moore, who added that the arc in front of Texas’s bench was the correct distance. Texas Coach Vic Schaefer said officials gave the coaches the option of altering the incorrect line with tape, which they said could have taken up to an hour. A spokesperson for the tournament site declined to comment, referring reporters to the NCAA. Lisa Peterson, chair of the NCAA Division I women’s basketball committee, also declined to comment. Texas Coach Schaefer stated that it was about a one-foot difference, and he didn’t want to be the guy that was to delay the game. Schaefer went on to say he doesn’t believe the arc had anything to do with the outcome of the game, but he “…would have loved to have done what I normally do my last 12 minutes before a game instead of walking around out there, trying to see if the floor’s screwed up.”[2]
The NCAA offered few clarifying details in a statement released during the game. Then it issued a second statement that placed blame on Connor Sports, the vendor for hardwood floors used in the women’s and men’s tournaments. The statement read, “While the NCAA’s vendor has apologized for the error, we will investigate how this happened in the first place. The NCAA is working now to ensure the accuracy of all court markings for future games. We are not aware of any other issues at any of the prior sites for men’s or women’s tournament games. The NCAA regrets the error was not discovered sooner.” The Michigan-based company did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. We saw this similar scenario play out when the discrepancies of the weight room in the 2020 March Madness tournament were revealed; the NCAA immediately shifted blame to the vendors and opted not to speak on the issue immediately.
The court was corrected before the Elite Eight matchup between USC and UCONN. We do know that the court impacted 4 previous games, and it went unnoticed. We can’t be clear that the arc had a major effect on the outcome of the games, but the teams that had to play on it without being notified of the error may have a lawsuit. Texas and NC State most likely will not have a lawsuit, as they were notified pre-tip and opted to continue the game. It will be interesting to see how this plays out and if the NCAA will release any more information on how this error came about.
[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/03/31/ncaa-tournament-wrong-three-point-lines/
[2] Id.
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