Considering the migratory nature of the D.C. area, college basketball might be more popular in Washington than any other city in the country. Besides the huge following for the two major local teams — Georgetown and Maryland — there are so many people from around the United States working in the region that basically every team in the NCAA Tournament can claim some fans here.
One thing we know for sure: Not much work will get done Thursday or Friday afternoon.
So where do you find the games?
Well, let’s start with CBS. After all, it is the home of March Madness and will provide live coverage of the tournament.
All games are offered on broadband at both NCAA.com and CBSSports.com. While at work, this should be your first option. The quality of the picture and the ability to follow four games at once make it fun to watch.
Westwood One will offer games on the radio. Locally you can catch games on ESPN 980 AM. The station also is home to the Georgetown Hoyas, and all their tournament games will be heard live. Maryland fans can hear the Terps’ games on 106.7 FM The Fan or 94.7 FM.
For those of you who subscribe to Sirius-XM, the satellite radio provider will broadcast every game of the tournament live. Also, those with DirecTV have access to all the games in high definition as part of the Mega March Madness package.
The broadcast teams for the first week have been assigned by CBS. In New Orleans, Dick Enberg and Jay Bilas will call the Notre Dame-ODU game at 12:25 p.m. Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery will call Thursday’s Richmond-St. Mary’s game at 2:30 p.m. in Providence. That same duo will have the Georgetown-Ohio game at 7:25 p.m.
Maryland fans will get their game Friday at 9:30 p.m., with Tim Brando and Mike Gminski — both of whom know the ACC — calling the action in Spokane.
The other broadcast teams doing Thursday’s telecasts: In Oklahoma City, it will be Kevin Harlan and Dan Bonner. In San Jose, it will be the team of Spero Dedes and Bob Wenzel.
The Friday games in Buffalo will be called by Gus Johnson and Len Elmore. Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel will be in Milwaukee. The A-team, Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg, has the honors in Jacksonville.
Jim Williams is a seven-time Emmy Award-winning TV producer, director and writer. Check out his blog, Watch this! on washingtonexaminer.com.
