Top 5 Announcers/Analysts

 

Dan Dakich is a homer. His apparent love for the Indiana Hoosiers is unabashed and, unfortunately, blinding. I know this. Anyone who follows him on twitter knows this. Apparently everyone knows this except ESPN (or maybe they do know this and just don’t care). Tomorrow night he will call Kentucky’s game against LSU and it has Matt Jones wondering if the Nielsen ratings will count the “turned sound down and listened to the radio” numbers.  I’m not sure if I’ll listen to the game via radio but the idea of muting the screen seems pretty promising.

 

But it got me thinking. What commentators would you turn the volume up for? Is there anyone out there that you would do it for? I know I can think of some. And my opinion is fact. So here is the top 5 TV commentators for college basketball (and they can either be play-by-play guys or analysts if that gives you any hint at who’s going to be number one).

 

 

5. Dick Vitale, ESPN: Dickie V is the most polarizing and popular figure to appear on this list, easily. Say what you want about him and some of the comments he makes, but no one I’ve ever met or heard comes close to Dickie V’s passion for college basketball. Also, no one in college basketball has become more quotable than Vitale, as the saying’s “PTPer,” “Diaper Dandy,” and “the Elevator Man,” have become staples amongst college basketball fans. He tends to be a little old school in his beliefs, and in his later years his analysis can sometimes comes off as rambling, but you have to admit one thing: he can be downright entertaining.

 

4. Steve Kerr, Turner Sports: While Kerr may be relatively new to the college basketball game in terms of being an analyst (most of his work still is in the NBA), I’m not sure anyone is better at actually analyzing the game at hand. His work during Kentucky’s 2012 run was incredibly enjoyable as he can objectively critique just about any player in a respectful and efficient manner. Not only can Kerr call a good basketball game, but he can write with the best of them as well, as evidenced by his work at Grantland.

Oh, and he did this:

 

3. Jay Bilas, ESPN: Over the past few years, Bilas has become a Kentucky fan-favorite due to both his criticism of the NCAA’s hypocrisy, and his defending of Coach Calipari. As a Duke graduate, it would have been easy for Bilas to denounce all things Kentucky but instead Bilas proved to be perhaps the most objective (and smart) analyst out there. Here’s the thing, though: he also knows how to analyze a basketball game. And he’s damn good at it. He may lack the flash of other game callers, but, like Kerr, Bilas uses his in-depth knowledge of the game (and a touch of sarcasm) to announce games. I’m not sure if there is anyone more universally liked in the college basketball-esphere than Jay Bilas.

 

2. Bill Raftery, ESPN/CBS: Putting Raftery in this spot over Bilas was the toughest decision I made on this list. If you want to call them 2a and 2b I’d be okay with that too. Here’s the deal: Bilas from a purely basketball standpoint is a bit better than Raftery. Raftery from a purely entertainment standpoint is way better than Bilas, hence the slight edge for Raftery. Whether he’s yelling “Onions!” or “He’s got the puppies set off the bus!”, his odd and quirky phrases are reason enough to tune in. My personal favorite call from Raftery (and probably yours)? Easy.

 

 

 

1. Gus Johnson, CBS/Fox/BTN: If you’re a huge college basketball fan, then you probably love Gus Johnson. He likes to yell, and we like to watch. As a child of the late 90’s, early 2000’s there’s a sense of nostalgia every time Gus gets on the mic. His game-calling has reached mythical status, and even prompted Bill Simmons to write about the “Law of Gus Johnson.” I think everyone agrees when I say that when Gus Johnson left CBS to go to Fox Sports, a little bit of the NCAA tournament died. I just wish one of Gus’s signature calls was during a Kentucky game. Ah well, I’ll live.

 

 

@BWardKSR