List of National Invitation Tournament postseason broadcasters

The following is an overview and list of the announcers and television networks to broadcast the National Invitation Basketball Tournament (or the NIT).

Early coverage by CBS

From 1966-1975,[1] CBS provided national television coverage for selected games from the National Invitation Tournament. Before 1975, the NCAA only allowed one team per conference to play in the NCAA tournament. Therefore, the NIT got many top teams and was considered somewhat comparable in quality to the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

In the early part of this era (circa 1966-1968), CBS carried one game on the opening Saturday and the championship game the following Saturday. By 1969, CBS moved their first round coverage from Saturday to Sunday to avoid conflicting with the NCAA tournament regional finals coverage on NBC. In the process, the NIT title game went head-to-head with the NCAA consolation game. The same would be true on both counts for the next three years.

In 1973, CBS expanded their NIT coverage to four games. The March 17 game (Notre Dame-USC) went up against an NCAA regional final on NBC. Meanwhile, the March 24 game (Notre Dame-North Carolina) went up against the first NCAA Final Four game.

In 1974, CBS covered went from covering four to covering five games in the NIT. The March 16 doubleheader (Md E Shore-Manhattan and Purdue-North Carolina) went up against the NCAA regional finals on NBC. Meanwhile, the March 23 doubleheader (Purdue-Jacksonville and Utah-Boston College) went head-to-head against the NCAA Final Four.

In 1975, CBS did not cover any NIT games on the first weekend, but did carry the semifinals and finals. The March 22 doubleheader (Providence-St John's and Princeton-Oregon) went head-to-head with the NCAA regional finals.

Date Network Play-by-play announcer Color analyst(s)
1966 CBS Tom Kelly Frank Gifford
1967[2] CBS Tom Kelly Frank Gifford
1968 CBS Don Criqui Hallie Bryant
1969 CBS Don Criqui Pat Summerall
1970 CBS Don Criqui Pat Summerall
1971 CBS Don Criqui Pat Summerall
1972 CBS Don Criqui Pat Summerall
1973 CBS Don Criqui Pat Summerall
1974 CBS Don Criqui Rod Hundley
1975 CBS Don Criqui Sonny Hill

ESPN's coverage

Date Network Play-by-play announcer Color analyst(s)
2002 ESPN Ron Franklin Fran Fraschilla
2003 ESPN Ron Franklin Fran Fraschilla
2004 ESPN Ron Franklin Fran Fraschilla
2005 ESPN Ron Franklin Fran Fraschilla
2006 ESPN Ron Franklin Fran Fraschilla
2007 ESPN Ron Franklin Fran Fraschilla
2008 ESPN Ron Franklin Bill Raftery & Fran Fraschilla
2009 ESPN Ron Franklin Bill Raftery & Fran Fraschilla
2010 ESPN Ron Franklin Bill Raftery & Fran Fraschilla
2011 ESPN2 John Saunders Bill Raftery & Fran Fraschilla
2012 ESPN Mike Patrick Bill Raftery & Fran Fraschilla
2013 ESPN Bob Wischusen Bill Raftery & Bob Knight
2014 ESPN John Saunders Fran Fraschilla & Bob Knight
2015 ESPN Bob Wischusen Fran Fraschilla & Bob Knight
2016 ESPN Bob Wischusen Fran Fraschilla

Radio

ESPN's 10-year contract not only gave ESPN the entire NIT on TV. It also gave ESPN Radio the rights to provide national radio broadcasts for the NIT during that 10-year span. When the NCAA acquired the NIT, the NIT radio rights became part of the NCAA Radio Network contract and moved over to Dial Global, which would rename themselves Westwood One in September 2013.

Date Network Play-by-play announcer Color analyst(s)
2002 ESPN Radio Doug Brown Bob Valvano
2003 ESPN Radio Doug Brown Bob Valvano
2004 ESPN Radio Doug Brown Bob Valvano
2005 ESPN Radio Marc Kestecher Bob Valvano
2006 ESPN Radio Marc Kestecher Bob Valvano
2007 ESPN Radio Marc Kestecher Bob Valvano
2008 ESPN Radio Marc Kestecher Bob Valvano
2009 ESPN Radio Marc Kestecher Bob Valvano
2010 ESPN Radio Marc Kestecher Bob Valvano
2011 ESPN Radio Marc Kestecher Bob Valvano
2012[3] Dial Global Bob Papa Steve Lappas
2013[4] Dial Global Brad Sham Steve Lappas
2014[5] Westwood One John Tautges Kelly Tripucka
2015[6] Westwood One Dave Ryan Kelly Tripucka
2016 Westwood One Scott Graham Kelly Tripucka

References

  1. A complete TV schedule with announcers for the NIT from 1966-1975
  2. "Observations on the 1967 NIT final footage on MSG Vault". Classic Sports TV and Media. 1 July 2012. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
  3. "Stanford vs. Minnesota; Men’s NIT Championship Game". Westwood One. 29 March 2012. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
  4. "Baylor vs. Iowa; Men’s NIT Championship Game". Westwood One. 4 April 2013. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
  5. "Minnesota vs. SMU; Men’s NIT Championship Game". Westwood One. 3 April 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  6. "; Men’s NIT Championship Game". Westwood One. 2 April 2015. Retrieved 2 April 2015.

External links

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