Which March Madness Announcers Called the Most Exciting Weekend?

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After the pandemic forced the NCAA to cancel the men’s basketball tournament last year, the first weekend of this year’s March Madness has reminded me why I missed this tournament so much.

There have already been upsets, clutch shots, and Cinderella stories. All we’re missing is a buzzer-beater, which has somehow eluded every team so far. Still, it’s been an exciting first couple of rounds for neutral fans or basketball junkies who’ve missed this marathon of madness.

However, as exciting as this has been for neutral fans like me, the announcers on the mic have also contributed to that, adding importance and emotion to every big play and late-game call.

Today, I’ll go over the games that each broadcasting team called, and which announcing group had the most exciting weekend. The commentator assignments are sourced from NCAA.com.

You’ll see numbers next to each game, and these are based on the 538 Excitement Index, which seeks to determine how exciting a game is based on how much both teams’ win probabilities fluctuate.

For every upset, which in this case will be a game where a team ranked three seeds or lower beats a higher-ranked team, I’ve also added an additional point to that game’s excitement score. I’ll count a 10 seed beating a 7 seed as an upset, but I won’t count a 9 seed beating an 8 seed. It’s not a perfect definition and there are definitely exceptions, but that’s what we’ll go with for now.

To get to our final rankings, I’ve calculated the average excitement score of every game each commentating group has called. That should lay out how I ranked these announcers, so let’s get to the actual ranking.

10. Carter Blackburn, Debbie Antonelli & Evan Washburn (Dana Jacobson, Lauren Shahadi) (2.42)

First Round: #6 Texas Tech 65–53 #11 Utah State (2.5)

First Round: #2 Houston 87–56 #15 Cleveland State (0.4)

First Round: #8 LSU 76–61 #9 St. Bonaventure (1.6)

First Round: #4 Virginia 58–62 #13 Ohio (6.0) + 1

Second Round: #1 Gonzaga 87–71 #8 Oklahoma (0.6)

Blackburn, Antonelli, and whoever their rotating sideline reporter was unfortunately called the least exciting weekend as they only saw one upset during their five games. The Ohio Bobcats took down Virginia, the de facto defending champs, but it wasn’t enough to negate four comfortable double-digit victories from higher-ranked teams in the other games.

9. Andrew Catalon, Steve Lappas & AJ Ross (2.6)

First Round: #5 Colorado 96–73 #12 Georgetown (0.9)

First Round: #2 Alabama 68–55 #15 Iona (2.0)

First Round: #6 BYU 62–73 #11 UCLA (2.4) + 1

Second Round: #1 Michigan 86–78 #8 LSU (4.1)

A back and forth shootout between Michigan and LSU was the high point of Catalon, Lappas, and Ross’s weekend, as the Wolverines’ eight-point victory was the closest game this trio called. While they did commentate UCLA’s upset, BYU never led and never got within a possession in the second half.

8. Brian Anderson, Jim Jackson & Allie LaForce (2.64)

First Four: #11 Wichita State 52–53 #11 Drake (5.1)

First Four: #11 Michigan State 80–86 (OT) #11 UCLA (5.4)

First Round: #4 Florida State 64–54 #13 UNC Greensboro (2.2)

First Round: #6 USC 72–56 #11 Drake (1.9)

First Round: #1 Gonzaga 98–55 #16 Norfolk State (0.1)

Second Round: #2 Iowa 80–95 #7 Oregon (3.1) + 1

Second Round: #11 UCLA 67–47 #14 Abilene Christian (1.1)

Second Round: #2 Alabama 96–77 #10 Maryland (1.2)

Calling the most games out of any other broadcasting team this weekend, this trio must be exhausted after their eight-game slate. They started their weekend a little early, calling two of the First Four games, and both contests ended up being two of the more exciting matchups this week. It’s a shame that more of their assignments weren’t as exciting as those games, as even Oregon’s upset win over Iowa was never really close after halftime.

7. Kevin Harlan, Dan Bonner & Dana Jacobson (2.87)

First Round: #1 Illinois 78–49 #16 Drexel (0.2)

First Round: #4 Oklahoma State 69–60 #13 Liberty (3.5)

First Round: #5 Villanova 73–63 #12 Winthrop (2.2)

Second Round: #1 Baylor 76–63 #9 Wisconsin (1.8)

Second Round: #3 Arkansas 68–66 #6 Texas Tech (4.9)

Second Round: #4 Oklahoma State 70–80 #12 Oregon State (3.6) + 1

The games that this trio called were fairly straightforward. Both Liberty and Winthrop threatened to pull off an upset in their first-round matchups after playing well in the first half, but Oklahoma State and Villanova were able to snuff those out in the second half.

The second round is when this group’s weekend picked up, highlighted by Arkansas‘s narrow victory on a last-second defensive stop and Oregon State proving themselves to be the best OSU in the tournament.

6. Ian Eagle, Grant Hill & Jamie Erdahl (2.98)

First Round: #2 Ohio State 72–75 (OT) #15 Oral Roberts (8.4) + 1

First Round: #8 North Carolina 62–85 #9 Wisconsin (1.3)

First Round: #1 Michigan 82–66 #16 Texas Southern (0.2)

First Round: #7 UConn 54–63 #10 Maryland (2.6) + 1

Second Round: #5 Creighton 72–58 #13 Ohio (1.2)

Second Round: #3 Kansas 51–85 #6 USC (1.2) + 1

After calling the biggest upset of the tournament and one of the most exciting games of the weekend, the rest of this team’s games were nowhere near as thrilling. Eagle, Hill, and Erdahl did announce two upsets in the Maryland and USC victories, but UConn never got closer than five points in the second half and Kansas was absolutely demolished.

5. Brad Nessler, Steve Lavin, (Avery Johnson) & Evan Washburn (3.92)

First Four: #16 Mount St. Mary’s 52–60 #16 Texas Southern (5.2)

First Four: #16 Norfolk State 54–53 #16 Appalachian State (6.9)

First Round: #3 Kansas 93–84 #14 Eastern Washington (4.2)

First Round: #2 Iowa 86–74 #15 Grand Canyon (0.5)

First Round: #7 Oregon vs. #10 VCU (No contest; Oregon advances; not counted here)

Second Round: #4 Florida State 71–53 #5 Colorado (2.8)

Nessler and Lavin’s weekend started a little early, calling two of the First Four games on Thursday, both of which were entertaining contests. And even though they couldn’t finish Kansas off, Tanner Groves’s 35 points kept Eastern Washington in the game well into the second half.

Unfortunately, the other two games these commentators announced were double-digit victories, and the Oregon-VCU game was sadly called off due to positive COVID tests, in a solemn reminder that we’re still not fully back to normal.

4. Jim Nantz, Bill Raftery & Tracy Wolfson (4.43)

First Round: #7 Florida 75–70 (OT) #10 Virginia Tech (7.1)

First Round: #8 Loyola Chicago 71–60 #9 Georgia Tech (3.7)

First Round: #6 San Diego State 62–78 #11 Syracuse (1.2) + 1

Second Round: #1 Illinois 58–71 #8 Loyola Chicago (5.1) + 1

Second Round: #3 West Virginia 72–75 #11 Syracuse (5.2) + 1

Second Round: #5 Villanova 84–61 #13 North Texas (1.3)

Nantz, Raftery, and Wolfson kicked off the first full day of March Madness in two years, and the opening game did not disappoint. The Hokies hit a clutch three with less than two seconds left to force overtime, but the Gators pulled away in the extra period to escape.

While this trio called three upsets, only Syracuse’s win over West Virginia went down to the wire, as the Orange dominated their first game against San Diego State. Loyola’s upset over top-seeded Illinois was also fairly convincing since the Ramblers led the entire game and kept Illinois from getting any closer than a six-point deficit in the second half.

3. Lisa Byington, Steve Smith & AJ Ross (4.66)

First Round: #1 Baylor 79–55 #16 Hartford (0.3)

First Round: #3 West Virginia 84–67 #14 Morehead State (1.3)

First Round: #5 Creighton 63–62 #12 UC Santa Barbara (6.7)

First Round: #3 Texas 52–53 #14 Abilene Christian (9.0) + 1

Second Round: #7 Florida 78–81 #15 Oral Roberts (4.0) + 1

After two snoozers to start their weekend, Byington, Smith, and Ross lucked out by immediately following that with a near-upset, the most exciting game of the weekend, and a 15 seed advancing to the Sweet 16 in their following games.

Creighton survived when UC Santa Barbara’s potential game-winning layup rimmed out with less than five seconds left, and Oral Roberts came back against Florida to continue their improbable tourney run, in a game that I think was the most underrated by the Excitement Index.

But the best game of the weekend was their first-round finale when Abilene Christian upset Texas for their first-ever tournament win. There were clutch baskets, ties, and lead changes all game, culminating in Joe Pleasant, a 60% free-throw shooter, swishing two shots from the line with a second remaining to seal the deal.

2. Spero Dedes, Brendan Haywood & Lauren Shehadi (5.45)

First Round: #3 Arkansas 85–68 #14 Colgate (4.2)

First Round: #5 Tennessee 56–70 #12 Oregon State (2.7) + 1

First Round: #7 Clemson 56–60 #10 Rutgers (6.4) + 1

Second Round: #2 Houston 63–60 #10 Rutgers (6.5)

Funnily, the biggest upset Dedes, Haywood, and Shehadi called was the least exciting game on their schedule, as Tennessee fell behind by as much as twenty points and never led. Colgate lost by more points but still had a more exciting contest, as they led by as many as fourteen and traded leads with Arkansas deep into the second half before fading in the last ten minutes.

The real star of this lineup though was Rutgers, as their two games carried these commentators’ weekends. Their first game was a back-and-forth contest against Clemson, and in their second-round matchup against Houston, Rutgers led by nine points with five minutes remaining before collapsing down the stretch to lose in heartbreaking fashion.

1. Tom McCarthy, Avery Johnson & AJ Ross (Lauren Shehadi) (7.05) + 1

First Round: #4 Purdue 69–78 (OT) #13 North Texas (7.4) + 1

First Round: #8 Oklahoma 72–68 #9 Missouri (5.7)

McCarthy and Johnson only called two games this weekend, but both of their games were extremely entertaining, as they called the most exciting weekend out of any group of commentators. The more exciting game of the pair was the first one they announced, as North Texas upset Purdue, the home state team, in overtime.

I don’t have a problem with them only calling two games, and I’m sure they don’t handle the assignments so it’s not like they’re to blame. If anything, I wish that they could’ve called more games. Sure, it’s a small sample size, but if all of their games were going to be this fun, let them announce as many games as they can.

Some of these announcers were lucky enough to call multiple great games, while others had the misfortune of a schedule that lacked in excitement. I always hope for a close contest in the tournament, and I’m sure commentators do too, but with 52 games spanning the First Four, first, and second rounds, boring games are bound to happen.

The commentators for the next round of the tournament, the Sweet 16, have already been announced, and looking at the list, the broadcasting teams with the fourth, sixth, seventh, and eighth-most exciting weekends have been assigned.

For these commentators’ sakes, and for neutral fans’ too, I hope these upcoming games are as exciting as possible for them.