Your 2013 NCAA Tournament Broadcasting Primer
CBS and Turner revealed their announcing lineup for this year's NCAA Tournament today. The unveiling of the March Madness announcing lineups is always one of the most interesting of the year because the announcers and broadcasters play a more pivotal role in the NCAA Tournament than perhaps any other sporting event. From the long hours in the studio jumping back and forth between games to the memorable calls of the tournament, and even which announcers get the plum assignments, there's plenty of talking points behind the mics.
This year's lineup isn't all that different from what we saw in 2012. In fact, the only change as far as the 8 broadcast booths go is new CBS acquisition Doug Gottlieb replacing Bob Wenzel, which is certainly an upgrade. There are no changes to the teams that will announce a second weekend of games as well (with Kevin Harlan, Reggie Miller, and Len Elmore just pipping Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel) and no changes to the studio, except once again, the addition of Gottlieb once we reach the Sweet 16. Here's all the details from the First Four to the Final Four...
First Four (Dayton Play-in Games)
Tuesday announcers: Marv Albert, Steve Kerr, Craig Sager
Wednesday announcers: TBD
First Weekend (Round of 64 & 32)
Announce Teams
Play-By-Play / Analyst // Reporter
1) Jim Nantz / Clark Kellogg // Tracy Wolfson
2) Marv Albert / Steve Kerr // Craig Sager
3) Verne Lundquist / Bill Raftery // Rachel Nichols
4) Kevin Harlan / Reggie Miller / Len Elmore // Lewis Johnson
5) Ian Eagle / Jim Spanarkel // Allie LaForce
6) Brian Anderson / Dan Bonner // Marty Snider
7) Tim Brando / Mike Gminski // Otis Livingston
8) Spero Dedes / Doug Gottlieb // Jaime Maggio
New York Studio
Hosts: Greg Gumbel & Ernie Johnson
Analysts: Charles Barkley, Greg Anthony, Kenny Smith
Atlana Studio
Host: Matt Winer
Analysts: Seth Davis, Steve Smith
Contributor: Lesley Visser
Second Weekend (Sweet 16 & Elite 8)
Announce Teams
Play-By-Play / Analyst // Reporter
1) Jim Nantz / Clark Kellogg // Tracy Wolfson
2) Marv Albert / Steve Kerr // Craig Sager
3) Verne Lundquist / Bill Raftery // Rachel Nichols
4) Kevin Harlan / Reggie Miller / Len Elmore // Lewis Johnson
New York Studio
Greg Gumbel, Charles Barkley, Greg Anthony, Kenny Smith, Doug Gottlieb
Atlanta Studio
Ernie Johnson, Seth Davis, Steve Smith
Final Four
Announcers: Jim Nantz, Clark Kellogg, Steve Kerr, Tracy Wolfson
Additional Notes
*It wasn't announced by Turner and CBS, but I'd imagine the studio for the Final Four will be hosted by Greg Gumbel with Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith joined by some combination of Doug Gottlieb, Greg Anthony, and Seth Davis.
*On the sidelines, CBS Sports Network Lead Off co-host Allie LaForce will make her debut during the tournament, which will provide some decent publicity for their late night show. (Did you know CBS Sports Network had a late night show? Well, you do now.) It'll be interesting to see just how much, if at all, CBS tries to push their cable sports network as they're locked out of any game coverage with the CBS-Turner alliance. Also, Turner's new acquisition Rachel Nichols will see two weekends of action with Bill Raftery and Verne Lundquist.
*Jim Nantz returns to announce his 23rd Final Four, which is just an insane number for someone that's never been thought of as a college basketball guy. He swoops in after the NFL season and CBS's west coast PGA swing to do one or two regular season games, the Big Ten Tournament, March Madness, and then he's off to Augusta. It's remarkable. Given Nantz's relatively young age (53), and the fact that CBS will have him calling their biggest sporting events until they cryogenically freeze his head (yes, CBS is that dependent on Jim Nantz), he could end up calling 40 or 50 or even 300 Final Fours by the time he's done. And yet you rarely hear Nantz call a college basketball game for the first 90% of the season. Steve Kerr is back for his 3rd Final Four, and he improves CBS's top team as I enjoy his ability to work with Clark Kellogg (on his 5th Final Four) and vice versa.
*As far as the rest of the broadcast teams go, there are no surprises, but let's hope Reggie Miller and Len Elmore get along a little better than they did last year.
*Marv Albert and Kerr draw the first of the First Four games in Dayton while the second group is yet to be announced. CBS and Turner have rotated these assignments in the past several years. With Dayton also hosting 1st and 2nd Round games, whoever draws that assignment will also likely be in Dayton Wednesday night. At least that would give those broadcasters plenty of time to check out the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patt.
*Entering Year 3 of the CBS-Turner alliance it's clear the experiment has been a victory for basketball fans everywhere. Not only do you get every game available to you in its entirety, but the depth in broadcast quality for March Madness eclipses any other sports property with Turner's NBA personalities combining with CBS's impressive stable of announcers. With the NBA guys improving last year in their analysis of the college game, I'd expect the strongest tournament yet from the broadcast side.
“@awfulannouncing: Everything you need to know about this year's NCAA Tournament coverage. bit.ly\/WEc8YQtTX”NO GUS JOHNSON is a crime!
@awfulannouncing it seems as though @SethDavisHoops got the short end of the stick with this. which is unfortunate bc I like Seth.
@awfulannouncing Cannot believe they're gonna split up EJ and Charles\/Kenny during the second weekend; how does that make sense??
“@awfulannouncing: Everything you need to know about this year's NCAA Tournament coverage. bit.ly\/WEc8YQr6n” NO GUS JOHNSON?!?!
Ian Eagle gets no love on Sweet 16 Saturday RT “@awfulannouncing: Everything you need to know about this year's NCAA bit.ly\/WEc8YQpt9”
Outstanding lineup as always. The announcing team that covers the NCAA tournament year after year ranks as the best in any sport. Definitely miss Gus Johnson (he can not be replaced) but Brian Anderson is solid, and Marv Albert was a definite upgrade after Dick Enberg retired a few years ago. Spero Dedes/Craig Bolerjack is a wash. I like Jim Nantz' work as an announcer; my only beef with him is what the article mentions; that he does only 1 or 2 regular season games per year before swooping in to take the lead in March. He has probably done fewer games than any of the other 15 guys on this list this year. All in all, a great crew to cover one of America's greatest sporting events.
I'm still getting used to the fact that there is no more whip around coverage. I think with me is that I got so to that, that I cant get used to this. I will say that March Madness is a great time of year.
I remember back in the early 90s, that to me, CBS was struggling to get 8 announcing crews for the tourney. Not anymore. Very good lineup.
@Giantsfan1982 Oh I remember those days in the mid-90s, it was a who's who. They brought in guys like Mike Emrick (hockey guy who did a great job on basketball), Mike Gorman (Celtics' announcer), Bill Macatee (their tennis guy), Ted Robinson (another tennis guy), Dave Sims (underrated journeyman), Gary Thorne (baseball guy), and Jim Durham (NBA guy borrowed from ESPN) to do the NCAA tournament. A lot of their commentators in those days were borrowed from ESPN as well; Quinn Buckner, Digger Phelps, Larry Conley, Derrek Dickey, Larry Farmer, Jimmy Dykes, and John Sundvold to name a few. I remember even Sean McDonough and Bill Raftery worked as a team on both CBS and ESPN for several years in the 90s (they remain a team to this day on ESPN).
Solozzo i remember that CBS from the mid 1990's untill 2005 also had Sideline Reporter's for it's Coverage of March Madness too and that most of the Sideline Reporters that they used were loaned to them from ESPN, i also remember that they used Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as a 2nd analyst for their #4 team of Dck Enberg and Matt Guokas for their coverage of the Pac-10 Championship game and the Men's NCAA Tournament for the year 2003 and that Bill Walton was loaned to CBS from NBC for their coverage of March Madness in 1999 too!!
@ALaForce A dream? You following me, I would be the happiest person in the world. I would give my life for you <3.
What i found is odd is that Allie Laforce is replacing Jenn Hildreth as a Sideline Reporter for the 2nd and 3rd round this year, although than again Allie Laforce is employed by CBS and Jenn Hildreth isn't and that Lewis Johnson is replacing Marty Snider as a Sideline Reporter for the Sweet 16 and Elire 8, but it really dosen't suprise me that new CNN and Turner Sports Member Rachel Nichols is a Sideline Reporter for the 2nd and 3rf round and for the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight, especially since Lesley Visser dosen't work for CBS anymore!
%s Perfect housewarming treat. Getting a place right down the street from you at the end of the week! %s
@MattCarlins @awfulannouncing adding Rachel Nichols is a strong addition. Raftery should be on the lead team
@awfulannouncing Nantz should be doing soccer and Gus Johnson should be back at CBS doing the big games. And Elmore should be in a 2 man
“@awfulannouncing bit.ly\/WEc8YQmeP” Didnt think it got any better than Verne and Bill calling games, then they add@Rachel__Nicholsols
@awfulannouncing My favorite part of the tourney is when Barkley and Smith are blunt while Anthony is on college mode of being nice to all
@UltimateCrans Also, can't stand how Turner-CBS just shoehorned Miller a few years ago. It's a brutal 3-man booth.
@AKellow @UltimateCrans Also if you want a good 3-man booth, you need a PBP man who's willing to share the air. Kevin Harlan ain't that guy
@fobbywobby @UltimateCrans Reggie has to have something on a higher-up at Turner, it's the only explanation..he adds nothing to game
@UltimateCrans Agreed 100%. Ian should be calling Sweet 16 and Elite 8 games, not Kevin Harlan.
“@nbaliva: @awfulannouncing its downright criminal that Verne gets a 2nd weekend over Ian Eagle.” No way. Verne and Raft are the best!
@gannonknight Verne hasnt been awake for a CBS broadcast since 1994. Raf is the absolute best.
