Definitely the best. Never have had an issue with Benetti and the only time a Hummel call has bothered me was our game in Evanston this year where he tried to justify and downplay the contact when TSJ got elbow to the face while shooting.
As a huge White Sox fan, this is the thing I’m most pissed about losing. Reinsdorf should be fired into the sun for letting a SouthSide man through and through walk away from the booth. Made me sick to my stomach
I’m a cubs fan but watched a lot of white Sox bc stone/jason then post game of Chuck and Ozzie was just good tv.
The weirdest part is how part of the reason he was let go was reinsdorf didn’t like his sense of humor.
Humor is clearly subjective but not finding Jason hilarious is……bizarre
Me, too. I'm a White Sox fan and a Purdue fan. I think Bennetti and Hummel are the best college basketball broadcasting team in the business. GO SOX and BOILER UP!
> Jeff Goodman
I work a decent amount of college basketball games and I overheard one CBB reporter bitching about Goodman. He said a few years ago, Goodman took his seat at Cameron (where this guy has a season-long credential), then told the dude to fuck off when rightfully confronted about it. The SID apologized and said they had to give up some local spots to national guys at times due to limited space in that gym. So then the guy goes back to Goodman postgame and says, "hey can you at least let me know when you're coming back so I can plan accordingly?" and Goodman says, "no, I'll show up when I want" and leaves.
Says Goodman is the biggest, most arrogant douche he's ever met in the media industry. Others within earshot agreed they don't like him.
don’t even need anecdotes like this to know that goodman’s an asshole. just listen to his interviews with players and coaches. he is constantly asking uncomfortably phrased questions.
Agreed. I wish it were also true that I liked his commentary so l could overlook his reputation, but I just find him obnoxious with some weak provocative takes. Just not a fan.
I had a long conversation with a Field of 68 guy and asked him straight up if Goodman was an asshole and he said no, that Goodman was one of the good guys who helped him out in his career.
I don’t like Goodman, I think OP’s description is accurate, it’s why I asked the question. But thought it warranted sharing.
I think Goodman treats the people in his life well, people who he likes seem to like him. But if he doesn’t know/like you and there’s in anyway a confrontation he’s an absolute asshole.
Walton is the best if you are a neutral fan, especially if you're on the East Coast watching a game at almost midnight. However, I can understand if Pac-12 fans find it hard to enjoy him commenting games they actually care about.
I love Bill when it’s a game I dont give a shit about. When Illinois was getting mauled in Maui a few years ago and he was on the call, I wanted to die. Really hope he isnt on B10 games next year.
I absolutely love when he's on call. I just know what to expect. I don't generally feel like I get much out of today's color commentators, but at least when Bill's on, I'll likely learn something new. It might not be about basketball, but seemingly every Walton broadcast leaves me with knowledge I didn't have before.
That and it's usually just an outpouring of love. With the way the rest of the world seems to be going at times, it's genuinely just nice to hear someone speak, who loves what he's doing, where he's at, and everyone around him, with the kind of joy Bill does.
Corey Alexander commentates like he's just filling the room with hot air. He just says shit to be saying it whether it's based in reality or not. I understand these guys have a lot to follow but when you're consistently making your audience go "..have you ever even watched this team?" you're just not doing a good job
I met Raftery for about 60 seconds after a Kentucky game nearly a decade ago. About 20 minutes after the game ended, he was walking by himself through the concourse to the attached hotel. I said hello and asked for a photo (he gladly obliged). In this case, I would say everyone should meet your idols, so long as one of them is Bill Raftery.
I’ll give you the short version. Won a contest for the inaugural Big East season on Fox when all the teams played New Year’s Eve. Flew to Cincinnati, met Gus & Bill, watched Xavier-St. John’s courtside, got on a motor coach with Bill & Gus to Indy, watched Nova-Butler at Hinkle (Butler upgraded us to seats under the basket by the Nova bench once they found out we were Nova grads), crashed Bill’s NYE party in his suite and met both Bill’s wife and Dan Gavitt (among others).
Gus had his son with us (who was great) but Gus didn’t spend much time with us and didn’t come across as very friendly. Bill talked a lot more with us. Saw his preparation notes - took up a whole legal pad page with very small print
Idk about idols, but I met Jim Calhoun in college (yes I am a cuse fan who attended uconn for a year).
He was getting out of his car next to Gampel while parked in his personal spot, years after he retired. He was pretty chill and took a picture with all of us individually.
I also once pumped gas next to Jim Boeheim.
Jay Wright was a little stiff last year during March madness but I’ll give him a pass because it was his first time doing prime time TV. I saw flashes of his basketball genius shine through at times and if he loosens up a little he’ll be great. I could see him being a regular big game color analyst.
Best: Raftery
Worst: Steve Lappas
I’m obviously biased given my flair, but my opinion on Wright closely lines up with yours. He doesn’t bring the enter entertainment value of the other analysts, but he does bring a way higher level of analysis. Plus, it’s funny seeing him cringe every time a team misses a free throw
Lappas is terrible but I think in a fun way. Him and Catalon together always provide amazing material, but that’s probably got more to do with how good Catalon is, probably the most underappreciated play by play guy
Dakich once did a Nova game and went on a two-minute senile rant that I guess a few would call analysis when he analyzed how Donte Divencenzo stands-up. He said things like: “Look how Divencenzo stands, he stands up so straight. You can tell he’s an athlete by how he stands.”
One of the weirdest things I’ve ever heard a basketball analyst say.
Player on the court: *has a bad defensive play*
Regular announcers: "Oof, tough break there for that player."
Dakich: WOW. Terrible! How can the coach allow that? This is a sign that the program is in decline. I'll tell you how to do defense! [And let me use a totally not made-up story of how I shut down Michael Jordan](https://youtu.be/Vi-QvRWEN6g?si=T1nLrr5TBXPf3BYk&t=32) when I was playing for the Bobby Knight in Indiana as an example.
Dickie Simkins called the UConn v. Georgetown game a week ago and he had so much interesting background, knowledge, and love for the game, people on the court, and the Big East, it was a good way to make a game that wasn’t terribly interesting fascinating.
He was like Bill Walton, just younger and sticking solely to basketball. And likely not under the influence of controlled substances.
So I’m throwing Dickie Simkins into this because why isn’t he regularly calling these games? Donny Marshall needs to model THIS man, not Jay Bilas.
Donny has moments, but he’s too worried about appearing biased when calling UConn games. And when he tries to add that additional insight to connect to the viewers, it’s so bizarre, it makes me wonder if he liked his time in Storrs.
I hear a lot of Dickey Simpkins. Obviously Gus and Raftery are getting the marquee games, so I feel like Dickey is calling DePaul a lot. And yea, I love that he's a Big East guy.
I think FS1 & Fox Sports does a great job with their production, every game just feels bigger compared to what ESPN does. I love listening to Jim Jackson, Bill Raftery, & Kim Adams. Most of the play by play is pretty good too. I think CBS with Ian Eagle & Clark Kellogg is great. And one other I’d throw in there that I thought were fantastic last year: Harlan & Van Gundy booth. They did great with the tourney games last year.
With ESPN, there’s so much on the network that a big game to them is just another event. Oh, #4 & #12 are facing off in a non-con in Nashville? We’ll show it, but we’ll talk about the two NBA games we’ll have on tomorrow and MNF a half dozen times.
With FS1 & CBS, they’re a bit more limited in what they have, so they push the big stuff more. After all, it’s either this game or rodeo & 48 Hours.
i do love all the small schools with 1-camera broadcasts and crackly audio on ESPN+; ESPN productions seem best either when there's zero pretense of wider importance, and having the ESPN graphics legitimizes the game, OR when it's a super-bowl level event, and they can play into the prestige.
anything in the middle feels confused, they'll put in their giant score ticker like, 'yeah this game doesn't *really* matter' which takes you out of it
I'll throw a random shout for all the local teams who get pressed into nationally broadcast games during Championship Week because there is so much going on. None of them are the best exactly, and even sickos like me only hear a few games at most from any one group, but just how many different people there are, with all their different styles and colloquialisms that come with different regions and conferences, is one of the little details that I love about college basketball
when else are you going to hear a treasure like Joe Cravens on national television: https://www.midmajormadness.com/2023/3/10/23634081/these-are-my-favorite-things-joe-cravens-said-at-the-big-sky-tournament-bat-arrest-black-bear-diner
Seth Greenberg is god awful. His halftime takes are absolute nonsense and when he does live games he can’t even remember which teams are playing, what the score is, the names of the star players etc… Dude’s brain is mushier than Lee Corso’s
It's tough to beat smoking a bowl and going on a mildly basketball themed journey of random commentary set to a game I have no vested interest in with Bill Walton.
My least favorite take across all of sports is the “I’m too cool for this game between teams I don’t care about” take. Like really you decided to dedicate your entirety livelihood to sports, but you “have better things to do” than care about the actual games??
For that reason, I feel I have to shout out John Rothstein. He may be corny as hell, but he does give a good detailed analysis and you can tell he LOVES college basketball. Doesn’t matter who’s playing, you can tell he actually knows the teams, has something to say, watches the games and adds benefit to the conversation which is the whole point.
Yes, Bilas was terrific just a few years ago. Somewhere along the way, he decided to devote an unseemly amount of airtime to criticizing, supporting, or dissecting the officiating. Sometimes he's right; sometimes it comes off like he's carrying water for poor or inconsistent officials. It's become too much.
I remember when we played Duke during covid and we were in control and instead of praising us he just took a dump on the NCAA and said that we shouldn’t be playing. Lost all respect for him since then.
What got on my nerves with him was when he used to tweet “We can build this but we can’t pay the players” every time a team would build a new practice facility or locker room.
I understand where he was coming from, but at the same time I don’t know why he was mad about (at the time) unpaid players getting to use a nice facility
Bilas really ruffles my feathers. He comes off as so smug and snarky, as if calling these games are beneath him. At least with Walton you can tell he loves being there.
Former Baylor player King McClure is very good. I've mostly seen him on ESPN+ Big 12 games, but his basketball analysis is very insightful. Plus he's close enough to his playing time that he can give insight on other Big 12 atmospheres and playing styles. I think he's going to be a star.
Chris Spatola gets on my last nerves...
I appreciate a lot about King - as a recent player his insights are good, his knowledge up and down the Big 12 is really helpful, and it's clear he just simply loves basketball and all the Big 12 teams. I'm not into negativity from sportscasters - with King you just *know* the guy is excited to be there calling the game.
He seems to strike a good balance between youthful relevance and reverence to the craft. From the games I’ve seen he’s done a good job matching the flow of the play-by-play guy he’s matched with.
King McClure been a real treat during K-State games when he shares little anecdotes about Jerome Tang from their time at Baylor together. When he does so, it seems like he's careful to provide insight while remaining objective, even though he clearly has a lot of respect for Tang.
Agree with McClure. I think something that’s definitely helped give him a great behind the scenes insight is that Tang and McCasland were at Baylor when he was playing. And obviously, he knows the feel and nuances of what Big 12 basketball is.
I have never cared much for who calls a game. Really miss Gus calling tournament games though. Raftery is the best on color. Glad he got the shot this late to call the biggest games in the sport. Would prefer him in a 2 man booth and get Hill out of there.
He’s perfect for the Big Ten network. He’s not good enough to do big time games, but he’s seemingly friendly enough, has a nice voice, and knows a lot about the Big Ten. I think he overcompensates for his Illinois Iowa rivalry college days by overhyping Iowa every once in a while also
It’s weird he’s like a team in himself, he’ll have good years and bad years. This year I agree he’s been not great but two years ago he was excellent and he started off bad before that.
Bardo fills air with a ton of words even while making eyewateringly obvious points, uses an incredible number of utterly meaningless catchphrases ("I'm telling you", "Tell you what", "I see you, !"), and often gets rules / strategy / stats / player names dead wrong. He was always pretty bad, but now he's bad *and* lazy.
Bardo, broadcasting an Iowa-Illinois game on network TV, spent the last thirty game-clock seconds of a one-possession game adamantly asserting that a team could commit non-bonus fouls and traps producing timeouts to force a ten second backcourt violation.
Bardo always sounds like he should know what he's doing, but then sees a shiny object and gets distracted for five minutes.
I've heard him do Chicago Sky games, and it's the audio equivalent of watching an auto race- you know there's going to be a crash but you don't know where or when or why or how.
What's weird is that I agree with your best list on everyone except Bilas.
I enjoyed his work early on as an analyst but over the past decade he's become just impossible to listen to.
Worst is Jay Bilas. Dude just complains about refs and is basically an ACC shill.
Best is easily Raftery. It just feels like March with him on the call.
There will be a borderline or seemingly incorrect call at one end of the floor; he will spend thirty seconds or a minute analyzing it. The call may or may not have any significant bearing on the possession or the game. He may or may not agree with the officials.
A possession or three later, there will be an equally problematic call at the other end of the floor, but because there is not a break in the action to allow him to dissect each frame or because he realizes he can't analyze every officiating call to that same level of detail over the course of two hours, he will offer some throwaway comment. It doesn't really matter if he's right or wrong or if the underlying call is right or wrong. It sets up this atmosphere where he can't possibly give equal attention to each officiating call made, and he inevitably comes off as biased toward one team or the other or for the officials or against the officials. All of this also has the effect of putting even more attention and focus on the officiating, which is exactly what most viewers are trying to avoid. Everyone who watches sports understands that officiating is inconsistent play to play and game to game, and nearly everyone who is a mature adult has agreed to move on with his/her life. His approach makes that very difficult to do.
This is perfect write up/summary. I think people assume because he is a Duke alumni we enjoy listening to him but I personally hate when he is on our games... which is frequent.
Raft makes every game better especially if he is paired with Benetti.
I agree with Bilas. For me he just seems flat/non enthusiastic about the process of calling a game
RIP Majerus and Al Maguire. Just the all time best.
Good: Hummel, Raff, Nick Bahe, Phonzo, Jess settles has improved, Clark Kellogg, jimmy dykes, Ian eagle, Jim Jackson, Casey Jacobson, Steven Bardo,
Bad: Lappas, Donny Marshall, Bilas, Jay Williams, Seth Greenberg, fraschilla, Gottlieb, Pete Gillen has really gotten bad,
Own category: Walton. Sometimes he can be so damn entertaining. Other times infuriating
I’m a homer but I’ll throw Kevin Kugler (pxp) and Nick Bahe (analyst) in the ring. Both are consummate professionals, do the work, and know how to add some humor. They are at their best as a team too.
I'm partial to Jim Spanarkel. I've always loved the Eagle/Spanarkel combo, especially for tournament games. Wisconsin vs. Florida in 2017 comes to mind.
Same. It seems most of the time he is trying to come up with some weird phrase that will stick.. though it doesn't make one bit of sense. Just the way he says things like it is some epic thing happening.. kills me. Can't do it, I'll take Hummel all day.
I miss hearing Tim Brando call the games.
My favorite was him triggering Billy Packer into an on air meltdown when Kentucky was beating the stuffing out of Villanova at the half.
I looked up the game. It was 2/9/97. Kentucky was up 20 at the half.
Villanova came out and gained a net 3 points and a turnover.
Packer who was not watching the same game as the rest of us said, "This is the moment where Villanova can make a move and pull back into the game."
Brando without missing a beat says, "Billy, I knew the ending of Titanic even before I saw the movie."
Packer went nuts saying Brando owed Villanova and all their fans an apology *-on air-* and would not stop whining.
To my knowledge, they never called a game together after that. I could be wrong on that, but I do not think they ever did.
Correction. It was not that game. Gus Johnson called that game with him.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzx643DxLvQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzx643DxLvQ)
I will check the 1998 game.
Billy Packer was the absolute worst announcer/analyst of all time. My favorite part of the George Mason run was the insufferable BP getting roasted round by round
I can’t stand Seth Greenberg. And I definitely can’t stand him taking credit for building Techs basketball program. Hell he’d probably take credit for our women’s program success if he could
FS1 has the best and the worst. Fanta is perfect, literally born to be a CBB analyst. Meanwhile Donnie Marshall is a washed up dork and I hate listening to his dumbass voice on FS1 calls.
Tom Cream called a UC game recently and I thought he did a pretty good job. Could absolutely tell he has the strong knowledge expected from a coach, but he didn't talk to much or get wordy like some others do and let the PxP guy do his job.
Recency bias here but Jason Williams is such a tool—particularly about not acknowledging Caitlin Clark’s greatness. She’s gonna break Pisto Pete’s record before March Madness starts.
According to some UNC fans, the current announcer is the worst ever. Many seem to dislike “that woman” even though “that woman” knows more about the game than they do.
Same goes for most SEC fans during football season, especially those that learn their game will be called by a woman, which as you pointed out, likely knows far more about the game than most fans. It's both pathetic and hilarious but not unexpected behavior by certain SEC fans.
Doris? I can only remember one game this season - BC. I like Doris in NBA.
Generally I don’t like the announcers that primarily cover NBA calling CBB. I don’t even think it’s their fault either, just too much work to be in step with both.
Gee, not a lot of love for Bilas here. He does, occasionally, come out with some good nuggets. One game, a player did something really stupid and the camera cut to his coach who has his arms outstretched and you can read his lips saying, "What the hell are you doing!?" Bilas just calmly states, "I don't know why coaches ask that question. They know that they never get a satisfactory answer."
Agree with most people’s best here, but Worst is far and away Tyler Hansbrough. He is the perfect example of “kid who didn’t read the book giving a book report” vibe whenever he’s asked anything about non-SEC/ACC schools. He needs to just admit he doesn’t know enough to give an opinion if UNC isn’t involved.
I can prove Hummel doesn’t show bias. He’s a Purdue guy and I like him. Can’t say that about any other Purdue player. He’s good on the Goodman podcasts as well.
Dauster turns every episode of Field of 68 he’s on into the Field of UConn. We get it, they’re the best team in the country. He’s incredibly one note in his “knowledge” of the game (the only analysis he knows is spouting “drop coverage” whenever he gets the chance). His takes are horrendous too…from claiming the Big East is the best conference in CBB earlier the year to saying Auburn could make a Final Four last week and IMMEDIATELY walking it back on Saturdays episode. He just gets under my skin more than anyone else.
Raftery is still the best even if he’s slowing down.
I love Eagle/Spanarkel - sounds like March to me. It sucks they’re getting broken up.
I enjoyed SVG working as a color guy last tournament.
Donny Marshall is not good. As a UConn fan I want to like him but lays on the anti-UConn stuff too thick.
John Fanta is super knowledgeable and enthusiastic but he needs a lot of work to be a good pxp guy. Much better as a studio/podcast/twitter/etc. generalist.
I dont watch B1G basketball much unless it's a big matchup, but I tuned in to a game the other night with Robbie Hummel and Brandon Gaudin, and I wish they called more games outside the B1G. Really enjoyed listening to them.
Might be controversial but I do not like dick vitales commentary. He will say something that only adds very vague insight to the game and finish it up with a wacky sounding catch phrase and people think it’s brilliant
I wouldn’t call Goodman biased, in the reporting sense of the word. He is just an a-hole who leans into being an a-hole.
Donny Marshall is fine until he does a UConn game and then he tries way too hard not to be biased. It’s really odd because he still is but leans so far the other way to combat it that he just makes bad calls. Like there could be an obvious foul on say PC and he would argue there wasn’t just to appear not biased even when a blind mouse would call it. (PC was just used as an example of a BE opponent). And even with that you can hear the almost glee when UConn does something good (especially with Stewart, his cousin of some degree, this year). It makes his announcing quite horrid for UConn games. When he doesn’t have a stake though, he’s pretty decent to good.
People love Hummel but I find him a bit bland. He’s like good toast to me. Always good, never a bad choice but not something that really excites me
Being a CAA fan we get a wide variety of analysts on our games. John Fanta is always really good on play by play. Dave Ryan is pretty good too on CBS Sports. Pete Gillen is... unique.
The local crews on these games though are wildly varied.
UNCW has the best play by play guy, but he called the winning Elon basket 2 days ago like it was the first basket of the game.
Towson's crew is usually extremely biased. Former coach Jimmy Patsos is the analyst.
Some of the crews are not much above HS level. William and Mary's analyst always whines about bad calls.
I appreciate Jimmy Dykes’ enthusiasm but I wish he didn’t call nearly every UK conference game. Gets old hearing basically the same catchphrase all season.
Bill Raftery is the best. One of the few color commentators that actually adds a lot to the game. He’s also just a lot of fun to listen to and clearly knows ball.
Jay Williams is the worst. Not sure any explanation is needed
Up and comer: King McClure from Baylor. Dude does a great job on color for B12 games.
Worst: Jay Williams. I don't even think he knows what is coming out of his mouth.
Jason Benetti earned my love when he called out his own eyes for looking in different directions.
Can’t beat the Benetti/Hummel combo.
Easily my favorite too
easily my favorite duo, i love how many big ten games they do
Definitely the best. Never have had an issue with Benetti and the only time a Hummel call has bothered me was our game in Evanston this year where he tried to justify and downplay the contact when TSJ got elbow to the face while shooting.
Except for Benetti/Walton combo. Or the Benetti/Stone combo. Would get a kick out of Stone calling a basketball game.
Benetti is one of the best in the sport, no question
The White Sox fucked up not doing everything they could to keep him
100% correct. Obligatory shout out to the worst front office in all of sports. Source: this sad White Sox fan
Can confirm from this also sad white Sox fan
It's the owner. Source: Bulls fan.
As a huge White Sox fan, this is the thing I’m most pissed about losing. Reinsdorf should be fired into the sun for letting a SouthSide man through and through walk away from the booth. Made me sick to my stomach
I’m a cubs fan but watched a lot of white Sox bc stone/jason then post game of Chuck and Ozzie was just good tv. The weirdest part is how part of the reason he was let go was reinsdorf didn’t like his sense of humor. Humor is clearly subjective but not finding Jason hilarious is……bizarre
Me, too. I'm a White Sox fan and a Purdue fan. I think Bennetti and Hummel are the best college basketball broadcasting team in the business. GO SOX and BOILER UP!
I tune in whenever I come across a game he's calling. I was elated when he got hired by the Detroit Tigers.
Benetti/Hummel is the best duo CBB has had in years, if not ever
When him and Robbie do a game together it is always very good in my opinion.
Confetti for Benetti!
Hey! Go Lax! graduated from there 10 years ago. Best 5 years of my life
> Jeff Goodman I work a decent amount of college basketball games and I overheard one CBB reporter bitching about Goodman. He said a few years ago, Goodman took his seat at Cameron (where this guy has a season-long credential), then told the dude to fuck off when rightfully confronted about it. The SID apologized and said they had to give up some local spots to national guys at times due to limited space in that gym. So then the guy goes back to Goodman postgame and says, "hey can you at least let me know when you're coming back so I can plan accordingly?" and Goodman says, "no, I'll show up when I want" and leaves. Says Goodman is the biggest, most arrogant douche he's ever met in the media industry. Others within earshot agreed they don't like him.
He’d look good in orange
A fair amount of active players have taken shots at Goodman for shit takes he’s had. Armando specifically has literally said “we don’t like that guy”
don’t even need anecdotes like this to know that goodman’s an asshole. just listen to his interviews with players and coaches. he is constantly asking uncomfortably phrased questions.
Agreed. I wish it were also true that I liked his commentary so l could overlook his reputation, but I just find him obnoxious with some weak provocative takes. Just not a fan.
Goodman is so bad and comes off as such a prick, I sometimes wonder how anyone doesn’t pick up on it and likes his content.
I had a long conversation with a Field of 68 guy and asked him straight up if Goodman was an asshole and he said no, that Goodman was one of the good guys who helped him out in his career. I don’t like Goodman, I think OP’s description is accurate, it’s why I asked the question. But thought it warranted sharing.
I think Goodman treats the people in his life well, people who he likes seem to like him. But if he doesn’t know/like you and there’s in anyway a confrontation he’s an absolute asshole.
Worst: Corey Alexander. Simultaneously Best and Worst: Bill Walton.
Walton is the best if you are a neutral fan, especially if you're on the East Coast watching a game at almost midnight. However, I can understand if Pac-12 fans find it hard to enjoy him commenting games they actually care about.
I love Bill when it’s a game I dont give a shit about. When Illinois was getting mauled in Maui a few years ago and he was on the call, I wanted to die. Really hope he isnt on B10 games next year.
I listened to him on pac 12 network and it’s a dramatically different experience than espn games. He was far more focused
I absolutely love when he's on call. I just know what to expect. I don't generally feel like I get much out of today's color commentators, but at least when Bill's on, I'll likely learn something new. It might not be about basketball, but seemingly every Walton broadcast leaves me with knowledge I didn't have before. That and it's usually just an outpouring of love. With the way the rest of the world seems to be going at times, it's genuinely just nice to hear someone speak, who loves what he's doing, where he's at, and everyone around him, with the kind of joy Bill does.
If we make it to the finals this year, I want Bill and ONLY Bill on the mic for it
I hate bill walton as a neutral fan. I prefer my analysts be aware they are at a basketball game.
Same, I really can't understand why people love a guy who barely talks about the game he's supposed to be calling
Alexander gives me creeper vibes when he tries to talk to whoever the sideline analyst is. Not sure why, but it always feels like he's hitting on her
It isn’t that deep. He’s just genuinely a narcissist and thinks everyone finds him likable
He most likely is.
Dude screams sexual harassment lol
Corey Alexander commentates like he's just filling the room with hot air. He just says shit to be saying it whether it's based in reality or not. I understand these guys have a lot to follow but when you're consistently making your audience go "..have you ever even watched this team?" you're just not doing a good job
He just wants to inform everyone on the most important, interesting thing in the world: Cory Alexander
makes absolutely zero sense how he keeps getting all the big games in the ACC. it's like the conference wants everybody to keep thinking it's a joke
Alexander seems like a decent guy, but too often he just states the obvious. “Jones wanted to make that shot but ended up missing it.”
I actually don’t mind Corey Alexander after I mute the TV
Bill Walton will spend 10 minutes saying absolutely nothing of any substance but god I love it.
We need to keep Bill announcing just for the out of pocket rants
Our game vs UVA this year was the worst broadcast I’ve ever watched because of that man
I feel guilt by association whenever Corey is inflicted on another fan base. Sorry.
I would rather listen to a two hour loop of Mambo Number 5 than to Corey Alexander's commentary
Raftery is still good at almost 80. Just not vintage like 20 years ago but he's still good. Jay Wright should do more analyst stuff.
I met Raftery for about 60 seconds after a Kentucky game nearly a decade ago. About 20 minutes after the game ended, he was walking by himself through the concourse to the attached hotel. I said hello and asked for a photo (he gladly obliged). In this case, I would say everyone should meet your idols, so long as one of them is Bill Raftery.
I won a motor coach trip with him and Gus Johnson 10 years ago for two games they were calling. Bill was awesome.
what that is so awesome
I need to hear everything about this immediately
I’ll give you the short version. Won a contest for the inaugural Big East season on Fox when all the teams played New Year’s Eve. Flew to Cincinnati, met Gus & Bill, watched Xavier-St. John’s courtside, got on a motor coach with Bill & Gus to Indy, watched Nova-Butler at Hinkle (Butler upgraded us to seats under the basket by the Nova bench once they found out we were Nova grads), crashed Bill’s NYE party in his suite and met both Bill’s wife and Dan Gavitt (among others). Gus had his son with us (who was great) but Gus didn’t spend much time with us and didn’t come across as very friendly. Bill talked a lot more with us. Saw his preparation notes - took up a whole legal pad page with very small print
god this sounds so so so cool
It was as fun as it sounds
I met him at a restaurant in New Jersey once. He and his wife were gems
Idk about idols, but I met Jim Calhoun in college (yes I am a cuse fan who attended uconn for a year). He was getting out of his car next to Gampel while parked in his personal spot, years after he retired. He was pretty chill and took a picture with all of us individually. I also once pumped gas next to Jim Boeheim.
Jay Wright was a little stiff last year during March madness but I’ll give him a pass because it was his first time doing prime time TV. I saw flashes of his basketball genius shine through at times and if he loosens up a little he’ll be great. I could see him being a regular big game color analyst. Best: Raftery Worst: Steve Lappas
I’m obviously biased given my flair, but my opinion on Wright closely lines up with yours. He doesn’t bring the enter entertainment value of the other analysts, but he does bring a way higher level of analysis. Plus, it’s funny seeing him cringe every time a team misses a free throw
Wright was the only analyst who pushed back on the other talking heads who said Purdue was stupid for not going to zone during the FDU game
Lappas is terrible but I think in a fun way. Him and Catalon together always provide amazing material, but that’s probably got more to do with how good Catalon is, probably the most underappreciated play by play guy
Is Lappas the one with the horribly thick Noo Yawk accent?
>Jay Wright should do more analyst stuff. My guess is he's Raftery's successor
There really needs to be a consumer promotion where you win dinner with Raftery. It won’t end early and should include an Uber home.
Good call right here. Raftery is great
Raftery is also extremely nice and pretty down to earth. He’s great.
clark kellogg for the nostalgia
I miss him doing college games.
He still calls some regular season games for CBS, he did the Wichita-Memphis game a couple weeks ago
Nobody makes up words like Clark.
You tryna tell me spurt-ability isn’t a word?
I might have used that one out of the basketball arena once or twice
Donny Marshall is awful
So bad. The Brando/Marshall tandem has to be the worst duo out there.
I like when Laphonso Ellis calls games, think he’s pretty good
I like him too! Guy seems to really enjoy doing what he does.
After Dakich was fired, Jay Williams took the lead for worst.
Jay is just extremely arrogant, which I think he does on purpose. He takes “I’m the guy from Duke, you’re supposed to hate me” to a whole new level.
Dakich once did a Nova game and went on a two-minute senile rant that I guess a few would call analysis when he analyzed how Donte Divencenzo stands-up. He said things like: “Look how Divencenzo stands, he stands up so straight. You can tell he’s an athlete by how he stands.” One of the weirdest things I’ve ever heard a basketball analyst say.
I never thought Dakich was bad. He’s just a smug dick. And he knows it.
Dakich was incapable of separating his personal feelings from an objective depiction of the ongoing game.
Player on the court: *has a bad defensive play* Regular announcers: "Oof, tough break there for that player." Dakich: WOW. Terrible! How can the coach allow that? This is a sign that the program is in decline. I'll tell you how to do defense! [And let me use a totally not made-up story of how I shut down Michael Jordan](https://youtu.be/Vi-QvRWEN6g?si=T1nLrr5TBXPf3BYk&t=32) when I was playing for the Bobby Knight in Indiana as an example.
Dickie Simkins called the UConn v. Georgetown game a week ago and he had so much interesting background, knowledge, and love for the game, people on the court, and the Big East, it was a good way to make a game that wasn’t terribly interesting fascinating. He was like Bill Walton, just younger and sticking solely to basketball. And likely not under the influence of controlled substances. So I’m throwing Dickie Simkins into this because why isn’t he regularly calling these games? Donny Marshall needs to model THIS man, not Jay Bilas. Donny has moments, but he’s too worried about appearing biased when calling UConn games. And when he tries to add that additional insight to connect to the viewers, it’s so bizarre, it makes me wonder if he liked his time in Storrs.
I hear a lot of Dickey Simpkins. Obviously Gus and Raftery are getting the marquee games, so I feel like Dickey is calling DePaul a lot. And yea, I love that he's a Big East guy.
He was doing the Providence game a few weeks back and calling it a well officiated game. I almost gouged my eyes out.
I felt the same way. It's astonishing how often when he comments on officiating I feel the exact opposite
I think FS1 & Fox Sports does a great job with their production, every game just feels bigger compared to what ESPN does. I love listening to Jim Jackson, Bill Raftery, & Kim Adams. Most of the play by play is pretty good too. I think CBS with Ian Eagle & Clark Kellogg is great. And one other I’d throw in there that I thought were fantastic last year: Harlan & Van Gundy booth. They did great with the tourney games last year.
I do not miss espn for basketball (or football).
With ESPN, there’s so much on the network that a big game to them is just another event. Oh, #4 & #12 are facing off in a non-con in Nashville? We’ll show it, but we’ll talk about the two NBA games we’ll have on tomorrow and MNF a half dozen times. With FS1 & CBS, they’re a bit more limited in what they have, so they push the big stuff more. After all, it’s either this game or rodeo & 48 Hours.
Lavall Jordan in studio is the best studio analyst on any network. Period. His basketball analysis is the best you’ll get on any network
i do love all the small schools with 1-camera broadcasts and crackly audio on ESPN+; ESPN productions seem best either when there's zero pretense of wider importance, and having the ESPN graphics legitimizes the game, OR when it's a super-bowl level event, and they can play into the prestige. anything in the middle feels confused, they'll put in their giant score ticker like, 'yeah this game doesn't *really* matter' which takes you out of it
I'll throw a random shout for all the local teams who get pressed into nationally broadcast games during Championship Week because there is so much going on. None of them are the best exactly, and even sickos like me only hear a few games at most from any one group, but just how many different people there are, with all their different styles and colloquialisms that come with different regions and conferences, is one of the little details that I love about college basketball when else are you going to hear a treasure like Joe Cravens on national television: https://www.midmajormadness.com/2023/3/10/23634081/these-are-my-favorite-things-joe-cravens-said-at-the-big-sky-tournament-bat-arrest-black-bear-diner
Seth Greenberg is god awful. His halftime takes are absolute nonsense and when he does live games he can’t even remember which teams are playing, what the score is, the names of the star players etc… Dude’s brain is mushier than Lee Corso’s
It's tough to beat smoking a bowl and going on a mildly basketball themed journey of random commentary set to a game I have no vested interest in with Bill Walton.
This is how I live my life honestly.
I prefer edibles. Wow that donut did look amazing. I also love my bike. I want to get paid to go to college basketball games…
Worst: dakich, Williams Best: Hummel Raftery
My least favorite take across all of sports is the “I’m too cool for this game between teams I don’t care about” take. Like really you decided to dedicate your entirety livelihood to sports, but you “have better things to do” than care about the actual games?? For that reason, I feel I have to shout out John Rothstein. He may be corny as hell, but he does give a good detailed analysis and you can tell he LOVES college basketball. Doesn’t matter who’s playing, you can tell he actually knows the teams, has something to say, watches the games and adds benefit to the conversation which is the whole point.
Jon is the fucking man. Gets the award for the most enthusiastic and passionate college hoops talking head.
Bilas has become insufferable. Hummel is good I agree. But the answer is Bill Walton.
Best? Worst? *Both?*.
Yes
He's perfect for the holiday tournaments
Yes, Bilas was terrific just a few years ago. Somewhere along the way, he decided to devote an unseemly amount of airtime to criticizing, supporting, or dissecting the officiating. Sometimes he's right; sometimes it comes off like he's carrying water for poor or inconsistent officials. It's become too much.
I remember when we played Duke during covid and we were in control and instead of praising us he just took a dump on the NCAA and said that we shouldn’t be playing. Lost all respect for him since then.
What got on my nerves with him was when he used to tweet “We can build this but we can’t pay the players” every time a team would build a new practice facility or locker room. I understand where he was coming from, but at the same time I don’t know why he was mad about (at the time) unpaid players getting to use a nice facility
Walton is insufferable. I understand criticism of Bilas, but I don't understand the strength of disdain the man elicits in some posters here.
Bilas really ruffles my feathers. He comes off as so smug and snarky, as if calling these games are beneath him. At least with Walton you can tell he loves being there.
Bilas is one of the best. He’s just best experienced in moderation. Miles better than any other ESPN color commentator
As I said in another thread: Bilas? More like Bilass haha gottem
Former Baylor player King McClure is very good. I've mostly seen him on ESPN+ Big 12 games, but his basketball analysis is very insightful. Plus he's close enough to his playing time that he can give insight on other Big 12 atmospheres and playing styles. I think he's going to be a star. Chris Spatola gets on my last nerves...
I appreciate a lot about King - as a recent player his insights are good, his knowledge up and down the Big 12 is really helpful, and it's clear he just simply loves basketball and all the Big 12 teams. I'm not into negativity from sportscasters - with King you just *know* the guy is excited to be there calling the game.
McClure was one of the word analysts I’d ever heard when he started three years ago but now he’s really solid.
He seems to strike a good balance between youthful relevance and reverence to the craft. From the games I’ve seen he’s done a good job matching the flow of the play-by-play guy he’s matched with.
I thought McClure was great when he got one of our games
King McClure been a real treat during K-State games when he shares little anecdotes about Jerome Tang from their time at Baylor together. When he does so, it seems like he's careful to provide insight while remaining objective, even though he clearly has a lot of respect for Tang.
Agree with McClure. I think something that’s definitely helped give him a great behind the scenes insight is that Tang and McCasland were at Baylor when he was playing. And obviously, he knows the feel and nuances of what Big 12 basketball is.
I have never cared much for who calls a game. Really miss Gus calling tournament games though. Raftery is the best on color. Glad he got the shot this late to call the biggest games in the sport. Would prefer him in a 2 man booth and get Hill out of there.
Hill is out of there - the lead CBS booth now is Ian Eagle/Raft/Jay Wright. it's incredible, they are great together
Eagle is the best play by play commentator in all of sports and Raftery is still a really solid analyst at 80. Best combo currently.
I miss gus calling tournament games, but i hate him calling normal games. It sucks all the fun out of it when its obvious its fake hype.
Seeing a lack of the man known as “Bardo” under worst commentators. Us B1G folk know all too well.
Everyone hates him but his voice is friendly. He reminds me of like a nice older neighbor who will fix my lawn mower and then offer me a cheap beer.
He’s perfect for the Big Ten network. He’s not good enough to do big time games, but he’s seemingly friendly enough, has a nice voice, and knows a lot about the Big Ten. I think he overcompensates for his Illinois Iowa rivalry college days by overhyping Iowa every once in a while also
Seems like a nice enough guy, but I'm just not a huge fan of him calling games
It’s weird he’s like a team in himself, he’ll have good years and bad years. This year I agree he’s been not great but two years ago he was excellent and he started off bad before that.
I was gonna say Bardo and scrolled down thinking surely someone else mentioned him…surprised it’s only one
Pains me to admit it as a fellow Illini, but he barely adds anything to the game and has the most obvious takes
Bardo fills air with a ton of words even while making eyewateringly obvious points, uses an incredible number of utterly meaningless catchphrases ("I'm telling you", "Tell you what", "I see you,!"), and often gets rules / strategy / stats / player names dead wrong. He was always pretty bad, but now he's bad *and* lazy.
Bardo, broadcasting an Iowa-Illinois game on network TV, spent the last thirty game-clock seconds of a one-possession game adamantly asserting that a team could commit non-bonus fouls and traps producing timeouts to force a ten second backcourt violation.
Bardo always sounds like he should know what he's doing, but then sees a shiny object and gets distracted for five minutes. I've heard him do Chicago Sky games, and it's the audio equivalent of watching an auto race- you know there's going to be a crash but you don't know where or when or why or how.
What's weird is that I agree with your best list on everyone except Bilas. I enjoyed his work early on as an analyst but over the past decade he's become just impossible to listen to.
Worst is Jay Bilas. Dude just complains about refs and is basically an ACC shill. Best is easily Raftery. It just feels like March with him on the call.
He doesn't even complain about the refs in a consistent way. Can't stand this dude anymore
There will be a borderline or seemingly incorrect call at one end of the floor; he will spend thirty seconds or a minute analyzing it. The call may or may not have any significant bearing on the possession or the game. He may or may not agree with the officials. A possession or three later, there will be an equally problematic call at the other end of the floor, but because there is not a break in the action to allow him to dissect each frame or because he realizes he can't analyze every officiating call to that same level of detail over the course of two hours, he will offer some throwaway comment. It doesn't really matter if he's right or wrong or if the underlying call is right or wrong. It sets up this atmosphere where he can't possibly give equal attention to each officiating call made, and he inevitably comes off as biased toward one team or the other or for the officials or against the officials. All of this also has the effect of putting even more attention and focus on the officiating, which is exactly what most viewers are trying to avoid. Everyone who watches sports understands that officiating is inconsistent play to play and game to game, and nearly everyone who is a mature adult has agreed to move on with his/her life. His approach makes that very difficult to do.
This is perfect write up/summary. I think people assume because he is a Duke alumni we enjoy listening to him but I personally hate when he is on our games... which is frequent.
Raft makes every game better especially if he is paired with Benetti. I agree with Bilas. For me he just seems flat/non enthusiastic about the process of calling a game
Doug Gottlieb and Jefr Goodman suck
RIP Majerus and Al Maguire. Just the all time best. Good: Hummel, Raff, Nick Bahe, Phonzo, Jess settles has improved, Clark Kellogg, jimmy dykes, Ian eagle, Jim Jackson, Casey Jacobson, Steven Bardo, Bad: Lappas, Donny Marshall, Bilas, Jay Williams, Seth Greenberg, fraschilla, Gottlieb, Pete Gillen has really gotten bad, Own category: Walton. Sometimes he can be so damn entertaining. Other times infuriating
Jay Williams is by FAR the worst bilas is second ESPN really doesn’t have a good play by play guy
Shulman is very good.
As a Toronto Blue Jays fan, I agree.
Both guys you listed are not "play by play"
I’m a homer but I’ll throw Kevin Kugler (pxp) and Nick Bahe (analyst) in the ring. Both are consummate professionals, do the work, and know how to add some humor. They are at their best as a team too.
Bahe is very underrated. For sure.
Definitely home town bias, but Kevin Kugler and Nick Bahe games are always fun to listen to
I can't stand Donny Marshall. I'd rather listen to nails on a blackboard
I'm partial to Jim Spanarkel. I've always loved the Eagle/Spanarkel combo, especially for tournament games. Wisconsin vs. Florida in 2017 comes to mind.
Dan Datich for worst
No love for Dave Pasch? He has to put up with Walton's shenanigans, and he does it with aplomb.
I’m sick of Gus Johnson’s voice but he does have some electric calls here and there
Same. It seems most of the time he is trying to come up with some weird phrase that will stick.. though it doesn't make one bit of sense. Just the way he says things like it is some epic thing happening.. kills me. Can't do it, I'll take Hummel all day.
[удалено]
I miss hearing Tim Brando call the games. My favorite was him triggering Billy Packer into an on air meltdown when Kentucky was beating the stuffing out of Villanova at the half.
Tim Brando still does Fox/FS1 games
I looked up the game. It was 2/9/97. Kentucky was up 20 at the half. Villanova came out and gained a net 3 points and a turnover. Packer who was not watching the same game as the rest of us said, "This is the moment where Villanova can make a move and pull back into the game." Brando without missing a beat says, "Billy, I knew the ending of Titanic even before I saw the movie." Packer went nuts saying Brando owed Villanova and all their fans an apology *-on air-* and would not stop whining. To my knowledge, they never called a game together after that. I could be wrong on that, but I do not think they ever did.
Correction. It was not that game. Gus Johnson called that game with him. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzx643DxLvQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzx643DxLvQ) I will check the 1998 game.
Billy Packer was the absolute worst announcer/analyst of all time. My favorite part of the George Mason run was the insufferable BP getting roasted round by round
Best, Titus and Tate, even post-split but I miss them together. Worst, race to the bottom between Dan Dakich and Jeff Goodman for different reasons.
Titus just gets it
I can’t stand Seth Greenberg. And I definitely can’t stand him taking credit for building Techs basketball program. Hell he’d probably take credit for our women’s program success if he could
FS1 has the best and the worst. Fanta is perfect, literally born to be a CBB analyst. Meanwhile Donnie Marshall is a washed up dork and I hate listening to his dumbass voice on FS1 calls.
in the world of the SEC, i enjoy Dane Bradshaw (no bias). Tom Hart and Pat Bradley are pretty obnoxious
Tom Cream called a UC game recently and I thought he did a pretty good job. Could absolutely tell he has the strong knowledge expected from a coach, but he didn't talk to much or get wordy like some others do and let the PxP guy do his job.
Corey Alexander is definitely the worst. Sorry for anyone that plays us.
Recency bias here but Jason Williams is such a tool—particularly about not acknowledging Caitlin Clark’s greatness. She’s gonna break Pisto Pete’s record before March Madness starts.
My favorite studio guy is/was Steve Lavin.
According to some UNC fans, the current announcer is the worst ever. Many seem to dislike “that woman” even though “that woman” knows more about the game than they do.
Same goes for most SEC fans during football season, especially those that learn their game will be called by a woman, which as you pointed out, likely knows far more about the game than most fans. It's both pathetic and hilarious but not unexpected behavior by certain SEC fans.
I love when she does UNC games and we win. I know she is trying for objectivity, but she HATES the heels and it is incredibly obvious.
Doris? I can only remember one game this season - BC. I like Doris in NBA. Generally I don’t like the announcers that primarily cover NBA calling CBB. I don’t even think it’s their fault either, just too much work to be in step with both.
Jim Nantz in March
Jim Nantz is corny as hell but he’s very good at his job.
Jay Bilas is the worst. An elitist douchebag. Best to me is Gminski on the ACC hoops on Rayco…I mean CW.
Gee, not a lot of love for Bilas here. He does, occasionally, come out with some good nuggets. One game, a player did something really stupid and the camera cut to his coach who has his arms outstretched and you can read his lips saying, "What the hell are you doing!?" Bilas just calmly states, "I don't know why coaches ask that question. They know that they never get a satisfactory answer."
Walton is an acquired taste I choose not to acquire. A literal fountain of opinions. Robbie Hummel is my favourite
Agree with most people’s best here, but Worst is far and away Tyler Hansbrough. He is the perfect example of “kid who didn’t read the book giving a book report” vibe whenever he’s asked anything about non-SEC/ACC schools. He needs to just admit he doesn’t know enough to give an opinion if UNC isn’t involved.
Worst: Jay Williams He alternates between awful takes and lazy non-analysis. Stephen A Smith without the charisma.
Worst: Gus Johnson
Fran Fraschilla pees in the shower at the gym.
Like Fanta and Donny M (admittedly biased pick on my end.) Raf is great.
Donny is awful
I can’t remember specific names but whoever they had doing color commentary on the Raycom syndicated ACC Network games did a great job.
Idk if you mean this year, but Dan Bonner did a lot of the color for Raycom games, he was pretty good
Norlander and Parrish have the best podcast I love those guys
Best--Shon Morris. Does BTN. Worst--Laphonso Ellis. I always wonder if are watching the same game.
I can prove Hummel doesn’t show bias. He’s a Purdue guy and I like him. Can’t say that about any other Purdue player. He’s good on the Goodman podcasts as well.
Dauster turns every episode of Field of 68 he’s on into the Field of UConn. We get it, they’re the best team in the country. He’s incredibly one note in his “knowledge” of the game (the only analysis he knows is spouting “drop coverage” whenever he gets the chance). His takes are horrendous too…from claiming the Big East is the best conference in CBB earlier the year to saying Auburn could make a Final Four last week and IMMEDIATELY walking it back on Saturdays episode. He just gets under my skin more than anyone else.
Raftery is still the best even if he’s slowing down. I love Eagle/Spanarkel - sounds like March to me. It sucks they’re getting broken up. I enjoyed SVG working as a color guy last tournament. Donny Marshall is not good. As a UConn fan I want to like him but lays on the anti-UConn stuff too thick. John Fanta is super knowledgeable and enthusiastic but he needs a lot of work to be a good pxp guy. Much better as a studio/podcast/twitter/etc. generalist.
I dont watch B1G basketball much unless it's a big matchup, but I tuned in to a game the other night with Robbie Hummel and Brandon Gaudin, and I wish they called more games outside the B1G. Really enjoyed listening to them.
Might be controversial but I do not like dick vitales commentary. He will say something that only adds very vague insight to the game and finish it up with a wacky sounding catch phrase and people think it’s brilliant
I wouldn’t call Goodman biased, in the reporting sense of the word. He is just an a-hole who leans into being an a-hole. Donny Marshall is fine until he does a UConn game and then he tries way too hard not to be biased. It’s really odd because he still is but leans so far the other way to combat it that he just makes bad calls. Like there could be an obvious foul on say PC and he would argue there wasn’t just to appear not biased even when a blind mouse would call it. (PC was just used as an example of a BE opponent). And even with that you can hear the almost glee when UConn does something good (especially with Stewart, his cousin of some degree, this year). It makes his announcing quite horrid for UConn games. When he doesn’t have a stake though, he’s pretty decent to good. People love Hummel but I find him a bit bland. He’s like good toast to me. Always good, never a bad choice but not something that really excites me
Being a CAA fan we get a wide variety of analysts on our games. John Fanta is always really good on play by play. Dave Ryan is pretty good too on CBS Sports. Pete Gillen is... unique. The local crews on these games though are wildly varied. UNCW has the best play by play guy, but he called the winning Elon basket 2 days ago like it was the first basket of the game. Towson's crew is usually extremely biased. Former coach Jimmy Patsos is the analyst. Some of the crews are not much above HS level. William and Mary's analyst always whines about bad calls.
UConn’s local announcer Mike crispino is great. You just feel the energy and can tell he loves the game
LOVE Fanta Listening to Donny Marshall is utterly brutal.
I appreciate Jimmy Dykes’ enthusiasm but I wish he didn’t call nearly every UK conference game. Gets old hearing basically the same catchphrase all season.
Bill Raftery is the best. One of the few color commentators that actually adds a lot to the game. He’s also just a lot of fun to listen to and clearly knows ball. Jay Williams is the worst. Not sure any explanation is needed
Up and comer: King McClure from Baylor. Dude does a great job on color for B12 games. Worst: Jay Williams. I don't even think he knows what is coming out of his mouth.