By Jenni Carlson
Staff Writer

It came time for the Sooners to dance late Saturday night, and they had no rhythm.

No circadian rhythm, that is.

We're talking here about the internal clock that tells our bodies what time it is. Time to eat. Time to sleep. Time to play basketball. And when we mess with the rhythm, it's like dancing the polka at a country bar.

It just doesn't work.

It didn't for the Sooners.

When the Oklahoma women's basketball played Washington in the Sweet 16, the game tipped off at 11:37 p.m. Oklahoma time. The Sooners' bodies told them it was time to sleep. The NCAA told them it was time to play basketball. The Sooners did a little of both during the game.

OU played poorly, lost and ended its season.

Maybe the outcome would have been the same whether they played at two in the morning or two in the afternoon. Maybe the Sooners would have turned in one of their worst shooting performances. Maybe the Huskies would have won by double digits, something no other OU opponent had done since Thanksgiving weekend.

But teams in the NCAA Tournament deserve a fair chance to prove themselves. And playing that late just isn't fair.

"We hate waiting," OU forward Caton Hill said after Saturday's game in the wee hours of the morning. "I love 12 o'clock games."

She means 12 o'clock in the afternoon, not the morning.

Teams shouldn't start NCAA Tournament games if it's after 10 p.m. on their campus. The NCAA should insist upon it. Do otherwise, and the competition isn't as good, the outcome isn't as true, the tournament isn't as credible.

Some believe home sites have the same effect on the women's tournament. The top four seeds in each regional play their first- and second-round games at home. They have the fans, the atmosphere, the advantage.

Is it tougher for the visiting teams to win? Absolutely.

Is it impossible? No way.

Three teams who played the opening rounds at home this year did not advance to the Sweet 16. Washington went halfway around the world and won at Florida. Missouri won at Georgia, Southwest Missouri State at Rutgers. Teams are used to playing on the road, in hostile environments, in tough situations.

They aren't used to playing at 1 o'clock in the morning.

And just think if Florida would've been the one playing OU. Had the Gators defeated the Huskies in the second round, they would have faced the Sooners.

Start time for the Gators: 12:37 a.m.

Final buzzer: Sunrise in Gainesville.

It's ridiculous.

The NCAA, no doubt, set the schedule for television. ESPN said, "Start the game then," and the NCAA started the game then. But, really, who was watching back on the East Coast? Heck, who was watching besides Oklahoma and Washington folks?

Move ahead the game times and the network would increase its viewers, the teams would better their performances and the tournament would improve its credibility.

That has a good circadian rhythm, and you can dance to it.