1. We all know why the NCAA tournament is as popular as it is: brackets. Plain and simple.
The tournament also has something else going for it that is becoming more and more rare in the sports world: It hasn’t been bastardized by streaming nonsense.
It remains an old-school broadcast and cable event.
As has been the case for several years now, when the first round of the men’s tournament gets underway on Thursday, every single game will air in full across CBS, TNT, TBS and TruTV.
None of the games will be exclusive to a streaming service. You don’t have to wonder where to find a game. Every single game will be available to every single sports fan who has some kind of basic cable package. You don’t need to add one streaming service that you may not have to watch any of what is a top three or four sporting event of the year.
In addition, college basketball fans can flip around from game to game, which is of the utmost importance in the early rounds of the tournament—when two, three or four games are going on at once—with ease.
There is a consistency with the broadcast of the NCAA tournament that we don’t see in sports anymore. CBS and Turner Sports have jointly aired the tournament since 2011. There’s even been an unusual stability with the announcers for the tournament. The Final Four was called by Jim Nantz, Bill Raftery and Grant Hill from 2015 to 2024 before Nantz decided to step away from college basketball. Ian Eagle, who has called the tournament forever, seamlessly slipped into Nantz’s role on the lead crew.
Play-by-players Kevin Harlan, Brian Anderson, Spero Dedes and Andrew Catalon have been fixtures on the tournament for years and years and years.
We’ve seen Clark Kellogg, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith handle the studio show since 2011.
You’d think if anything in sports was ripe to be picked off by a streamer, it would be the NCAA tournament. At the least, you’d think those First Four play-in games on Tuesday and Wednesday would be perfect to be sold off to a streamer.
The good news is that CBS and Turner have the rights to the tournament through 2032.
Watching sports on streaming services is inconvenient and costly. To have an event as massive as the NCAA tournament away from streaming is a huge win for sports fans, which is a true rarity in 2026.
2. Some notable nuggets regarding the men’s NCAA tournament broadcasts:
• TruTV’s Texas vs. NC State game at 9:15 p.m. ET on Tuesday is the game that Dick Vitale and Charles Barkley will call with Brian Anderson.
• It’s very rare that CBS’s lead team works Thursday/Saturday instead of Friday/Sunday, but Ian Eagle, Bill Raftery and Grant Hill will call the first game of the tournament, Ohio State-TCU, on CBS at 12:15 p.m. ET Thursday. I love the idea of things kicking off with the best and most entertaining broadcast crew.
• The crew to keep an eye on is Kevin Harlan, Robbie Hummel and Stan Van Gundy. Hummel is a rising star and CBS thought enough of him to bump Dan Bonner from this crew after several years. This has the potential to be a great booth.
Bring on the madness! The tip times are set for the First Round on Thursday and Friday. pic.twitter.com/cx0IU80DtR
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 16, 2026
3. In other men’s bracket news, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi correctly predicted the entire field of 68 and nailed 57 of the 68 seeds. Impressive.
Here’s how Joe Lunardi did with his final bracket compared to the actual bracket:
— Aaron Bracy (@Aaron_Bracy) March 15, 2026
FIELD: 68/68
AT-LARGE: 37/37
SEED (exact): 57/68 *
SEED (+/- 1):
67/68 *
* personal best(s)
I know Joe is good at this, but that is just wild. 👏 @ESPNLunardi
4. I wouldn’t expect Reggie Miller to have good takes, but if he thinks it was only “podcasters” who criticized the Heat and Bam Adebayo for manufacturing his 83-point game, he’s just not paying attention and is lazy. In addition, not one person said Adebayo ruined basketball. Again, just a lazy take from Miller.
Reggie Miller GOES OFF on people hating on Bam:
— Heat Central (@HeatCulture13) March 15, 2026
"I don't care if its your local church league. You get a chance to go for history you go for it. I'm so tired of all these podcasters and guys who never played the game talking about 'they ruined basketball.' I DO NOT CARE. 83 IS… pic.twitter.com/kGaYdJidM4
5. Two thoughts on the Oscars:
It was a total disgrace that James Van Der Beek was left out of the In Memoriam segment after he starred in one of the best sports movies of all time,Varsity Blues.
If you were a die-hard Friday Night Lights fan like myself, how cool was it to see Michael B. Jordan win the Best Actor award?
6. This week’s SI Media With Jimmy Traina features a conversation with Sports Business Journal reporter Richard Deitsch about all the latest sports media news.
Among the topics discussed: NBC naming Jason Benetti as its play-by-play voice for Sunday Night Baseball while passing on hiring a full-time lead analysts in order to use local broadcasters each week; CBS’s decision to use Nate Burleson as a studio host for the NCAA tournament; why Pat McAfee’s value to ESPN continues to increase; what Fox will do for a No. 2 college football play-by-play caller with Benetti gone; Charles Barkley and Dick Vitale calling a First Four game together; the WBC and much more
Following Deitsch, Sal Licata from SNY TV andThe Sal Licata Show, joins me for our weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week, we talk about NFL free agency, the NBA’s decision to cancel “Magic City Night” in Atlanta, the WBC, the Oscars and the absurd price of concert tickets.
You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast below or on Apple and Spotify.
You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on YouTube.
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Happy 3:16 Day to all who celebrate.
Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on X and Instagram.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as The Reason the Men’s NCAA Tournament Remains a Perfect Television Event.
