List of National Invitation Tournament postseason broadcasters
Introduction 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, 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.DateNetworkPlay-by-play announcerColor analyst(s)1966CBSTom KellyFrank Gifford19671968Don CriquiHallie Bryant1969Pat Summerall19701971197219731974Rod Hundley1975Sonny Hill
ESPN's coverage DateNetworkPlay-by-play announcerColor analyst(s)1989ESPNJim KellyBill Raftery1990Mike Patrick1991Tim BrandoLarry Conley1992Sean McDonoughBill Raftery1993Ron Franklin1994Brad Nessler19951996Bob Carpenter1997Ron Franklin1998199920002001Bill Raftery & Jimmy Dykes2002Fran Fraschilla200320042005200620072008Bill Raftery & Fran Fraschilla200920102011ESPN2John Saunders2012ESPNMike Patrick2013Bob WischusenBill Raftery & Bob Knight2014John SaundersFran Fraschilla & Bob Knight2015Bob Wischusen2016Fran Fraschilla20172018ESPN22019ESPN2020 ''Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic''2021ESPNJohn SchriffenFran Fraschilla20222023
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.DateNetworkPlay-by-play announcerColor analyst(s)2002ESPN RadioDoug BrownBob Valvano200320042005Marc Kestecher2006200720082009201020112012Dial GlobalBob PapaSteve Lappas2013Brad Sham2014Westwood OneJohn TautgesKelly Tripucka2015Dave Ryan2016Scott Graham2017Brandon Gaudin2018Lance Medow2019Jon Crispin2020 ''Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic''2021 ''No broadcast due to the tourney being in Texas instead of New York''2022Westwood OneBrandon GaudinBen Braun
References