Jim Nantz, Grant Hill, Bill Raftery and Tracy Wolfson to Call
National Championship and Final Four National Semifinals on CBS
Steve Lavin, Debbie Antonelli, Casey Stern, Adam Zucker, Brendan Haywood
and Lisa Byington Join 2017 March Madness Coverage
CBS Sports and Turner Sports will once again feature a marquee lineup of announcers for their seventh year of combined coverage of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship. All 67 games from the 2017 NCAA Tournament will be televised across four national television networks – TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV – and via NCAA March Madness Live, beginning Tuesday, March 14, with the NCAA First Four on truTV presented by Northwestern Mutual.
This year’s NCAA Final Four National Semifinals on Saturday, April 1, and National Championship on Monday, April 3, from University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. will be televised on CBS. Jim Nantz, Grant Hill, Bill Raftery and reporter Tracy Wolfson will call the Final Four National Semifinals and National Championship for the third consecutive year.
New commentator roles for this year’s coverage include:
Steve Lavin and Debbie Antonelli serving as game analysts.
- Casey Stern anchoring studio coverage from Atlanta;
- Adam Zucker providing all game updates from the New York studio;
- Lisa Byington joining as a reporter;
- Brendan Haywood serving as studio analyst in Atlanta through the first weekend.
Ernie Johnson and Greg Gumbel will again host studio coverage from the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City during the first full week of the tournament, joined by Charles Barkley, Clark Kellogg and Kenny Smith. Johnson will host studio coverage from Atlanta during the second week of tournament action on Thursday and Friday. Studio coverage originating from Turner Studios in Atlanta, hosted by Casey Stern during the first week, will feature Brendan Haywood, Seth Davis and college coaches. Wally Szczerbiak will contribute to studio coverage from New York City.
Following is the complete list of announcer pairings:
Play-by-Play / Analyst // Reporter
* Regional Weekend Announce Teams
Jim Nantz / Bill Raftery / Grant Hill // Tracy Wolfson*
Brian Anderson / Chris Webber // Lewis Johnson*
Verne Lundquist / Jim Spanarkel // Allie LaForce*
Kevin Harlan / Reggie Miller / Dan Bonner // Dana Jacobson*
Ian Eagle / Steve Lavin // Evan Washburn
Spero Dedes / Steve Smith / Len Elmore // Ros Gold-Onwude
Andrew Catalon / Steve Lappas // Jamie Erdahl
Carter Blackburn / Mike Gminski / Debbie Antonelli // Lisa Byington
The tournament will tip off Tuesday, March 14, and Wednesday, March 15, with the NCAA First Four on truTV presented by Northwestern Mutual. Brian Anderson will call Tuesday’s games with analyst Kellogg and reporter Lewis Johnson. Spero Dedes will handle play-by-play on Wednesday alongside analysts Smith and Len Elmore with reporter Ros Gold-Onwude. Studio coverage for the First Four will originate from Atlanta with Stern and analysts Haywood and Davis.
Accompanying the live television presentation, NCAA March Madness Live will once again be the ultimate digital destination for direct access to all 67 games of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship.
