ESPN, CBS, Fox, NBC and sports’ vertical networks will cover tons of college basketball this weekend
Jim Nantz busy at golf; CBS' lead voice will be off the links to bring his tonal qualities to the tournament; Nessler gets a game Saturday on CBS
By David J. Halberstam 02/20/2020
Bracketology
Unemployment is down in America because there’s always demand for another bracketologist!
Experts say that the unemployment figures are deceptive because we’re counting too many part-time workers. Wait until the labor department begins counting all those seasonal bracketologists hiding in their basements.
The progenitor, Joe Lunardi was not only the first, he launched a cottage industry! There’s CBS’ Jerry Palm. You might remember him. He’s so busy these days, there’s no time for the barber. He wears his hair in bangs down to his eyelashes. Jerry is just too busy these days with his mental bookkeeping; all those teams and all those seeds. Then there’s Fox and it professorial looking Mike DeCourcy.
And now that we’ve graduated from bubble-bath to bubble-watch all is good.
But these guys better make their dough quickly. Being a bracketologist is like servicing outdoor pools in Alaska. Not a lot of work most of the year.
Ten broadcast predictions for the weekend:
- Dickie V will give John Calipari a big hug when he sees him this weekend covering Florida at Kentucky
- Mark Plansky on VCU-Saint Louis will remind someone that he played for Villanova’s 1985 national championship team. Wow. Is it that long?
- Announcer for the Canisius-Quinnipiac game, Robert Lee will underscore the fact that his middle initial is not E
- Spero Dedes will again demonstrate that he’s among the best basketball announcers in America
- Gus Johnson will pierce your ears at least once during his broadcast
- Steve Lappas will make sense of the game he’s covering, Texas-Kansas State
- Ditto Fran Fraschilla on Memphis-Houston
- Bill Walton will call attention to himself working Oregon-Arizona with Dave Pasch on ESPN
- Kevin Brown will be happy prepping for UCF-Cincinnati. He was just named lead radio announcer for the Baltimore Orioles radio broadcasts
- Another Kevin, Kevin Harlan will get a warm greeting when he checks into the Ohio State press room. Some young admirer and aspiring broadcaster will say, “Hello Mr. Harlan. I always listen to you. Love your work.”
One other interesting note: Thursday night, ESPN ran San Fran @ Gonzaga—It went with two analysts instead of traditional play-by-play + analyst. Early, it was like two coaches just talking the game, Jimmy Dykes and Fran Fraschilla. Wonder if ESPN is up to something!
Friday, Feb. 21
Sacred Heart at Merrimack|5 p.m. | CBSSN, Dave Popkin, Joe DeSantis
Canisius at Quinnipiac | 7 p.m. | ESPNU, Robert Lee, Julianne Viani
Buffalo at Kent State| 7 p.m. | ESPN2, Brock Bowling, Rob Kennedy
VCU at Saint Louis | 9 p.m. | ESPN2, Mike Corey, Mark Plansky
Saturday, Feb. 22
No. 3 Kansas at No. 1 Baylor | 12 p.m. | ESPN, Dan Shulman, Jay Bilas, Holly Rowe
Tennessee at No. 13 Auburn | 12 p.m. | CBS, Spero Dedes, Clark Kellogg
No. 19 Marquette at Providence | 12 p.m. | FOX, Gus Johnson, Donny Marshall, Andy Katz
Virginia at Pitt | 12 p.m. | ESPN2, Doug Sherman, Malcolm Huckaby
Tulane at UCF | 12 p.m. | ESPNU, Anish Shroff, Paul Biancardi
Missouri at Arkansas | 1 p.m. | SEC Network, Kevin Fitzgerald, Dane Bradshaw
Navy at Army | 1:30 p.m. | CBSSN, Jason Knapp, Mo Cassara
No. 22 Houston at Memphis | 2 p.m. | ESPN2, Rich Hollenberg, Fran Fraschilla
No. 17 West Virginia at TCU | 2 p.m. | ESPNU, Clay Matvick, Bryndon Manzer
Texas at Kansas State | 2 p.m. | CBS, Andrew Catalon, Steve Lappas
Michigan at Purdue | 2 p.m. | ESPN, Jason Benetti, Robbie Hummelde
No. 12 Villanova at Xavier | 2:30 p.m. | FOX, Kevin Kugler, Jim Jackson
SMU at Tulsa | 3 p.m. | ESPNN, Dave LaMont, Mark Adams
Loyola Chicago at Missouri State | 3:30 p.m. | CBSSN, Brent Stover,Tim Doyle
Mississippi State at Texas A&M | 3:30 p.m. | SEC Network, Dave Neal, Mark Wise
North Carolina at No. 11 Louisville | 4 p.m. | ESPN, Karl Ravech, Jimmy Dykes
No. 8 Florida State at N.C. State | 4 p.m. | ACC Network, Wes Durham, Jordan Cornette
UCLA at No. 18 Colorado | 4 p.m. | CBS, Brad Nessler, Dan Bonner
Georgia Tech at Syracuse | 4 p.m. | ACC Network Extra, Tom Wereme. Mike Giminski
Oklahoma at Oklahoma State | 4 p.m. | ESPN2, Mark Neely, Chris Spatola
Saint Joseph’s at George Mason | 4:30 p.m. | NBCSN, Rich Lerner, David Kaplan
Drake at Illinois State| 4:30 p.m. | ESPN3, Tom Ackerman, Kevin Lehman
Rhode Island at Davidson | 5:30 p.m. | CBSSN, John Sadak Steve Wolf
LSU at South Carolina | 6 p.m. | ESPN2 , Beth Mowins, Andy Kennedy
Florida at No. 10 Kentucky | 6 p.m. | ESPN, Bob Wischusen, Dick Vitale,
Texas Tech at Iowa State | 6 p.m.| ESPNU, Chuckie Kempf, Tim Welsh
California at Washington | 6 p.m. | Pac-12 Network Aaron Goldsmith, Eldridge Recasner
Clemson at Boston College | 6 p.m. | ACC Network, Jay Alter, Dalen Cu
Georgia at Vanderbilt | 6 p.m. | SEC Network, Richard Cross, Joe Kleine
Richmond at St. Bonaventure | 6:30 p.m. | NBCSN, Todd Harris, Tim McCormick
UNLV at No. 4 San Diego State | 7:30 p.m. | CBSSN, Jason Horowitz, Pete Gillen
Oregon State at Arizona State | 8 p.m. | ESPNU, Sam Farber, Adrian Branch
Virginia Tech at No. 6 Duke | 8 p.m. | ESPN2, Dave O’Brien, Cory Alexander
Alabama at Ole Miss | 8:30 p.m. | SEC Network, Mike Morgan, Pat Bradley
No. 14 Oregon at No. 24 Arizona | 9 p.m. | ESPN, Dave Pasch, Bill Walton
Kansas State at Texas Tech | 9 p.m. | ESPN2, Robert Ford, Tim Welsh
Georgetown at DePaul | 9 p.m. | FS1, Chris Vosters, Stephen Bardo
No. 2 Gonzaga at No. 23 BYU | 10 p.m. | ESPN2, Dave Flemming, Sean Farnham
Fresno State at Nevada | 10 p.m. | ESPNU, Steve Quis, Ben Braun
Sunday, Feb. 23
No. 9 Penn State at Indiana | 12 p.m. | FS1 Brandon Gaudin, Donny Marshall
Temple at East Carolina | 12 p.m. | ESPNU, Paul Sunderland, Sean Harrington
American at Boston U | 12 p.m. | CBSSN Jason Knapp Mo Cassara
Wichita State at Cincinnati | 1 p.m. | ESPN, Kevin Brown, Mark Adams
Rutgers at Wisconsin | 1 p.m. | Big Ten Network Chris Vosters, Shon Morris
St. John’s at No. 16 Seton Hall | 2 p.m. | CBS, Ian Eagle, Jim Spanarkel
South Florida at UConn | 2 p.m. | CBSSN, Dave Ryan, Bob Wenzel
Southern Illinois at UNI | 2 p.m. | ESPNU, Robert Lee, Julianne Viani
Minnesota at Northwestern | 3 p.m. | Big Ten Network Drew Carter, Ben Brust
No. 7 Maryland at No. 25 Ohio State | 4 p.m. | CBS, Kevin Harlan, Bill Raftery
No. 21 Butler at No. 15 Creighton | 4 p.m. | FS1 Kevin Kugler, Nick Bahe
New Mexico at Boise State | 4 p.m. | CBSSN, Rich Waltz and Dan Dickau
USC at Utah | 6 p.m. | ESPNU Eric Rothman, Ben Braun
Miami at Notre Dame | 6 p.m. | ACC Network Wes Durham, Malcolm Huckaby
Stanford at Washington State | 8 p.m. | ESPNU Roxy Bernstein, Corey Williams
