MARCH TO THE MADNESS CONTINUES
ON SATURDAY, MARCH 8 AND SUNDAY, MARCH 9
TOP TEAMS TAKE COURT INCLUDING
NO. 12 LOUISVILLE VS. NO. 11 GEORGETOWN; NO. 5 KANSAS VS. TEXAS A&M;
NO. 7 STANFORD VS. USC AND MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP
HIGHLIGHT WEEKEND ACTION
Courtside Notes with CBS Sports’ Lead Analyst Billy Packer
CBS Sports’ march to the madness continues as five of the nation’s top 15-ranked teams take the court on Saturday, March 8 and Sunday, March 9 (12:00-6:00 PM, ET; both days).
Saturday’s tripleheader action features live national coverage of *No. 12-ranked Louisville battling No. 11-ranked Georgetown (12:00 NOON, ET), followed by a national broadcast of *No. 7-ranked Stanford visiting USC (2:00 PM, ET). National coverage of *No. 5-ranked Kansas taking on Texas A&M (4:00 PM, ET) concludes the days action.
Sunday is highlighted by the Missouri Valley Conference Championship Game, on network television for the third consecutive year (2:00 PM, ET), followed by *No. 15-ranked Purdue at Michigan in a Big Ten showdown (4:00 PM, ET). Florida takes on Kentucky in the day’s first game (12:00 NOON, ET).
AT THE HALFÒ, CBS Sports’ halftime studio show hosted by Greg Gumbel, along with Sports Illustrated’s Seth Davis, provides all the day’s news, scores and highlights live from the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City. Eric Mann produces and Bob Matina directs.
Saturday, March 8 - Tripleheader
12:00-2:00 PM, ET
Louisville at Georgetown Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery Mark Wolff/Suzanne Smith
2:00-4:00 PM, ET
Stanford at USC Gus Johnson/Clark Kellogg Steve Scheer/Mark Grant
4:00-6:00 PM, ET
Kansas at Texas A&M Jim Nantz/Billy Packer Bob Dekas/Bob Fishman
Sunday, March 9 - Tripleheader
12:00-2:00 PM, ET
Florida at Kentucky Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel Ross Schniederman/Jim Cornell
2:00-4:00 PM, ET
Missouri Valley Conf. Championship Dick Enberg/Bob Wenzel Bob Mansbach/Mike Arnold
4:00-6:00 PM, ET
Purdue at Michigan Kevin Harlan/Dan Bonner Craig Silver/Andy Goldberg
Saturday, March 15 - Quadrupleheader
11:30 AM-1:40 PM, ET
Conference USA Championship Dick Enberg/Bob Wenzel Craig Silver/Mark Grant
1:40-3:40 PM, ET
Big Ten Semifinal #1 Jim Nantz/Billy Packer Bob Dekas/Bob Fishman
4:00-6:00 PM, ET
Big Ten Semifinal #2 Jim Nantz/Billy Packer Bob Dekas/Bob Fishman
6:00-8:00 PM, ET
Pac-10 Championship Gus Johnson/Dan Bonner Bob Mansbach/Mike Arnold
Sunday, March 16 - Doubleheader
1:00-3:30 PM, ET
SEC Championship Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery Mark Wolff/Suzanne Smith
3:30-6:00 PM, ET
Big Ten Championship Jim Nantz/Billy Packer Bob Dekas/Bob Fishman
* * * * *
COURTSIDE WITH CBS SPORTS’ BILLY PACKER
(On Final weekend of the season): This is the neatest last weekend of a regular-season in my memory. At the highest level I’ve never seen college basketball end its regular-season with games of such importance, that are going to determine any number of combinations of teams that can be number one seeds, much less the teams that are on the bubble…You have UCLA and Stanford, two teams that, depending on what happens in that game and obviously the Pac-10 Championship, could decide a number one seed in the West…In the Big East you have Georgetown and Louisville. Both teams going into the last weekend have a chance at being a number one seed and a Final Four team….And Louisville, now having everybody healthy, may be playing better than anybody in the country…In the ACC with Duke and North Carolina going head-to-head, they find themselves back in an incredible situation where a number one seed is on the line…Finally in the Big 12 there is the situation with Kansas and Texas, depending on what happens this weekend and their post-season tournament, one of those two teams could move to a number one seed.
(On potential No. 1-seeds): There are nine teams Kansas, Texas, Stanford, UCLA, Louisville, Georgetown, Memphis, North Carolina and Duke that over the course of the next week and in the post-season tournaments can work their way into or out of a number one seed. There has never been a situation like that before, which means one of them is going to be a number three seed. That really shows you the strength of the top of this year’s brackets.
(On Kansas): All year long, even though they stumbled in February, Kansas has been the number one team in the country. They have the best balance of inside and outside play, as well as the maturity of any team in the country. Bill Self has taken multiple schools to the NCAA Tournament, but he hasn’t reached the cherished spot of winning a National Championship, although he has tremendous experience in the tournament as a coach. Kansas is the team to beat if you had to narrow it down to one team.
(On Texas A&M): I thought Texas A&M would be a very solid Sweet 16 team based on what they had returning. They’re one of the teams this year that have surprised me in the fact that they haven’t been able to get on a run. I did not understand some of their losses. But, they are a real dangerous opponent for Kansas this weekend particularly on their home floor.