College Basketball on ABC

Overview

ABC's college basketball coverage began in 1962 with a delayed broadcast of the NCAA Championship Game on Wide World of Sports. The first regular-season game by a major network aired on December 15, 1973, also on Wide World of Sports, featuring UCLA versus North Carolina State in St. Louis. ABC used its former NBA announcing team of Keith Jackson and Bill Russell for that game, after losing NBA rights to CBS. In the 1977–78 season, ABC televised the ACC Tournament final on Wide World of Sports after NBC opted for intersectional matchups instead of ACC games; that broadcast marked Duke's first national television appearance.

Regular-season coverage started in 1987, focusing on the Big Ten, Big 8, and Pac-10 conferences. During the 1987–88 season, ABC skipped college basketball on the last three weekends of February due to the Winter Olympics. Coverage expanded in the early 1990s, and by the 1991–92 season, ABC carried regional games in many Saturday and Sunday afternoon slots.

Commentators

ABC's college basketball coverage began with Keith Jackson and Dick Vitale as the lead broadcast team, with Gary Bender handling secondary play-by-play. Al Michaels called regional games during that era. When Brent Musburger arrived from CBS in late 1990, he paired with Vitale on the main crew. Jim Valvano served as a color commentator for several years until his death in 1993; during the 1991–92 season, Vitale and Valvano occasionally worked together as co-analysts.

The following season, Terry Gannon substituted for Valvano, who was battling cancer. In 2005, Steve Lavin took over as lead analyst from Vitale, who shifted to ESPN's weekly primetime showcase. From 2010 through 2014, ABC only aired the SEC men's basketball tournament, with Brad Nessler and Jimmy Dykes as the broadcast team. When college basketball returned to ABC in the 2019–2020 season, a rotating group of ESPN analysts, including Dick Vitale, was used.

Today, Dan Shulman, Jay Bilas, and Jess Sims are the primary men's college basketball announcing team, while Ryan Ruocco, Rebecca Lobo, and Holly Rowe lead the women's broadcasts. Other commentators who have worked ABC college basketball games include Dave Armstrong, Dave Barnett, Jason Benetti, Tim Brant, Tim Brando, Jim Brinson, Bob Carpenter, Bill Doleman, Ron Franklin, Terry Gannon, Mike Goldberg, Rich Hollenberg, Mark Jones, Wayne Larrivee, Chris Marlowe, Brad Nessler, Dave O'Brien, Dave Pasch, Mike Patrick, Steve Physioc, Robin Roberts, Jon Sciambi, Dan Shulman, Dave Strader, Jim Szoke, Gary Thorne, Mike Tirico, Barry Tompkins, Al Trautwig, Roger Twibell, Fred White, Bob Wischusen, Stephen Bardo, Dan Belluomini, Jay Bilas, Quinn Buckner, Larry Conley, Brad Daugherty, Len Elmore, Larry Farmer, Fran Fraschilla, and Doug Gottlieb.