"That is an absolute disgrace": Chris 'Mad Dog' Russo sounds off on March Madness schedule ahead of Sweet 16

March Madness is in full swing as the Sweet Sixteen is set to kick off on Thursday. Chris 'Mad Dog' Russo recently voiced his displeasure with the tournament's schedule, which will see four of the round's eight games tip-off after 9:30 p.m. EST. Appearing on ESPN's First Take, the long-time sports radio personality said:

"This NCAA starting time for these NCAA tournaments. I mean, you're starting games on the East Coast at 11 o'clock at night. Saturday and Sunday night, you had these games end at 1 o'clock in the morning. College basketball is not big enough to go 12 consecutive hours and have all these standalone games and have the games go two and a half hours because they're looking at a replay with flagrant fouls and if the ball is slapped out of bounds by somebody."

Russo continued:

"And then, this week, think about it. It's Easter week. It's holy week. Thursday night, look at these times... Friday is Good Friday. It's Holy Thursday on Thursday and I've got to stay up until 1:45 in the morning to watch a 2 hour and 45 minute college basketball game. That is an absolute disgrace!"

Check out Chris 'Mad Dog' Russo's comments on the March Madness schedule below (starting at the 2:16 mark):

There are four Sweet Sixteen games scheduled to tip-off after 9:30 p.m. EST, however, there is the possibility that the tip-offs come much later. Russo noted that the two games with tip-offs scheduled for 10:09 EST will both be played on the East Coast.

Rece Davis defends John Calipari amid March Madness struggles

John Calipari has found himself on the hot seat as the Kentucky Wildcats have not had March Madness success in recent years. During a recent appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, College Gameday host Rece Davis was asked about Calipari's future.

"There are some who want [him to be fired]. I don't think that's particularly wise... There are only two people on the planet who have proven to be able to handle that job because it is a giant one.

"One of them has the job now in Calipari, the other one is Rick Pitino. That's it. Now, are there others? Yes. There's a lot that comes with that job. Cal understands how it works, but he needs to change," Davis said

He continued:

"He needs to change because at Kentucky, you have to win championships. You have to go to Final Fours. He needs to fix it, whatever it is, so I think that setting out a plan for what he wants to do to be able to improve their postseason performance - that's a fair assessment of where Kentucky is because they're Kentucky. Beyond that, I don't think it's wise to push out Calipari."

Check out Rece Davis' comments on John Calipari's future amid March Madness struggles below:

The Wildcats have not won a national championship since the 2011-12 season. They have not reached the Final Four since 2014-15, while their last Sweet Sixteen appearance was in 2018-19. Kentucky last won the conference tournament in 2017-18 and they haven't finished the regular season atop the SEC since 2019-20.