HBO Sports has begun production on a documentary chronicling what most college basketball fans would consider the game's fiercest rivalry — Duke vs. North Carolina. The hourlong special "Battle for Tobacco Road: Duke vs. Carolina" debuts at 9 p.m. ET/PT Monday, Feb. 23. Executive producers are Ross Greenburg and Rick Bernstein; George Roy is producing. Included in the film will be interviews with Hall of Fame coaches Dean Smith and Mike Krzyzewski and key players in the rivalry such as Michael Jordan, Charlie Scott, Grant Hill, Johnny Dawkins and Christian Laettner. Since the NCAA Tournament expanded to its current configuration 1985, Duke and North Carolina have combined for more national titles (five) and Final Four appearances (18) than any single conference. … [Read more...]

Billy Packer's out and Clark Kellogg's in as the lead college basketball analyst on CBS. Packer was the primary college hoops commentator for CBS for the past 27 years, coming over from NBC where he shared analyst duties with the late Al McGuire for seven years. Kellogg, a former standout at Ohio State, has been a game and studio analyst for CBS for 16 years. He will be partnered with Jim Nantz. Packer told the Associated Press he is also relinquishing his role as commentator on SEC telecasts with syndicator Raycom. … [Read more...]

College basketball TV analysts Dick Vitale and Billy Packer and NBA star-turned-TNT commentator Charles Barkley were among seven selected for induction into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. Players Danny Manning of Kansas and Arnie Ferrin of Utah and coaches Nolan Richardson and Jim Phelan were the others honored Sunday. Vitale, who is in his 29th season as a commentator on ESPN, missed two months this season as a result of vocal cord surgery on Dec. 18. He returned Feb. 6 to call Duke at North Carolina. Prior to that, Vitale had never missed a game. Monday's NCAA men's basketball championship game between the Kansas Jayhawks and Memphis Tigers will be the 27th that Packer has called for CBS as its lead analyst. He previously spent seven seasons at NBC. Barkley was honored for his college career at Auburn. He went on to a distinguished NBA career with the Philadelphia … [Read more...]

CBSSports.com said today it has dropped its registration requirements for NCAA March Madness on Demand, giving immediate access to the video player to a network of more than 200 sites across the Internet. The company has created a developer platform, giving sites all the necessary tools and information to link directly to live streaming video from the tournament. NCAA March Madness on Demand will be available at NCAA.com, as well as links on CBSSports.com, the CBS Audience Network and sites for CBS television and radio affiliates. Additionally, games will be available on YouTube, competing sports Web sites such as ESPN.com, Yahoo! Sports and SI.com and social sites like Facebook. As was previously announced, 2008 marks the first time that NCAA March Madness on Demand will offer all 63 games of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship. Users will also have the option to listen to … [Read more...]

For a network so adept at juggling a lot of balls during March Madness, CBS dropped a big one on Saturday and in the process drew the ire of fans throughout SEC country. With less than 50 seconds to play in a tight contest between Kentucky and Arkansas, the network's feed suddenly went dark. When it reappeared moments later, viewers saw the start of the St. John's-Duke game. Not surprisingly, the switchboard at CBS' Lexington, Ky., affiliate WKYT quickly lit up. General manager Wayne Martin told kentucky.com the station was deluged with hundreds of phone calls from irate fans. He said his staff immediately called CBS' New York headquarters, where staffers got the game back on the air with 14 seconds to go, allowing fans to watch Kentucky win 63-58. Viewers in Alabama, Tennessee and Florida said they experienced the same outage. A "switching error" in New York was the cause of … [Read more...]

ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale has been cleared to return to broadcasting after a successful surgery to treat ulcers on his left vocal cord. Vitale will be on ESPN Radio's "Mike & Mike in the Morning" on Feb. 4 and plans to call his first game on the Feb. 6 ESPN telecast between Duke and North Carolina. A scope and analysis of Vitale's throat by Dr. Steven Zeitels in Boston revealed that the broadcaster has recovered sufficiently after the removal of the non-cancerous lesions. "I was in tears when he asked me to speak my first words since the surgery," Vitale wrote in a letter to fans. "Believe me, it was very difficult to go 3½ weeks without speaking! When he had me count to 10, I was so relieved." Zeitels performed the surgery in December at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Before that, Vitale, 68, had never missed an assignment … [Read more...]

What, ESPN college basketball without Dick Vitale? Say it ain't so! Relax, it's only temporary. Vitale had surgery to treat ulcers on his left vocal cord and is expected to be off the air until at least February. Vitale, 68, said on his Web site that he'll continue to provide insights on college basketball through postings on ESPN.com and dickvitaleonline.com while he recuperates. "The past six weeks have been very emotional (for) me and for my family as we've visited some of the most outstanding throat specialists," Vitale said in a letter posted on ESPN.com. "Visiting college campuses and interacting with the fans has kept me so young and energized. I can't wait to get back out there, having a blast with all of you, who are so vital to our game." An ESPN analyst since 1979, Vitale had previously never missed an assignment. For fans wanting to send their best wishes … [Read more...]