Alabama vs. Texas Tech tipoff time must have Crimson Tide fans everywhere frustrated

You can't always get what you want. But sometimes, you can't even get what you need... Leave it up to the NCAA to have no remote clue what time zone Tampa, Florida is actually in. For some strange reason, Alabama will be taking on Texas Tech in their Round of 32 game at promptly 9:45 p.m. ET. Because this is March Madness, we can expect opening tipoff to be somewhere after 10:00 p.m. ET.

It makes as much sense as Miami playing the 12:10 p.m. ET game after it finished up around midnight.

This No. 4 vs. No. 5 Round of 32 matchup between the Crimson Tide and the Red Raiders will come shortly after No. 9 Iowa takes on No. 1 Florida. While it may be a crowd heavily in the Gators' favor, keep in mind that Iowa plays with the pace of watching paint dry. We may not see Alabama tip off with Texas Tech until we are quite literally minutes to midnight. At least they hail from the same time zone...

Why does the NCAA keep doing everything wrong, all the time with regard, to absolutely everything?

Alabama fans will have to call out to work on Monday because of NCAA

Alabama is not only the higher seed, but the slight favorite over Texas Tech coming in. According to FanDuel Sportsbook, the Crimson Tide will be laying just 1.5 points on a neutral floor vs. Texas Tech. With the stakes being at an all-time high, why is the NCAA making a mockery of it when it comes to the start time? Had Alabama played a true West Coast team, this could have been so problematic...

Although Texas Tech will have to do without JT Toppin for the rest of the season, Alabama will have to do the same without Aden Holloway. This puts an even greater emphasis on the teams' respective role players, as well as bench depth. Whoever can get the most out of the rotational players may end up dancing into the Sweet 16. The winner would take on either No. 1 Michigan or No. 9 Saint Louis.

At this time, Nate Oats has to put his best foot forward in having to navigate this difficult start time. What has seemed to be the case with some of these late tips during the first two full days of the NCAA Tournament is one team will rise to the occasion late, while the other runs out of gas due to exhaustion. So who is it going to be in this one? Alabama or Texas Tech. We will find out soon enough.

For now, Alabama needs to get its rest to make sure it can do whatever it takes to defeat Texas Tech.