Ladies And Gentlemen, Meet The Teams
No one is happier than Andrea Joyce that Sunday’s “NCAA Tournament Selection Show” (CBS, 3 p.m. PST) has been expanded to 1 hour.
Under its old, 30-minute format, the popular show was a breathless sprint. With the full nationwide attention of anxious basketball teams and fans, host James Brown would announce the teams in each region with virtually no time for analysis, mistakes or complaints about which teams weren’t chosen.
“I think the hour will help open it up a little,” said Joyce, who inherits the selection show’s host chair since Brown is now at Fox. “What we do will remain pretty much the same.”
As Brown was, Joyce will be stationed in Kansas City, where the NCAA selection committee makes its tournament decisions. But just because she’ll be on the scene doesn’t mean you can expect to know the fate of your favorite team 5 minutes after the selection show tips off. Rick Gentile, CBS’ vice president for production, said the brackets will start being posted about 3:30 p.m. PST.
Gentile said CBS will spend the early portion of the selection show “setting the stage” with features and discussion by analysts Billy Packer, Quinn Buckner and George Raveling. The three analysts and Jim Nantz will be in New York.
Gentile said waiting to see the brackets will be comparable to “The Ed Sullivan Show,” when Sullivan would keep the viewers on the edge of their seats by continually saying, “‘The Beatles will be out (soon).”’
Nantz and Packer certainly aren’t complaining, though. The 1-hour format will allow them a little more time to reach the studios.
In the past, while Brown and the CBS crew in Kansas City were frantically preparing for the show, Nantz and Packer would finish the Big East Tournament final at Madison Square Garden, then dash to the subway station and ride uptown to the CBS studios on West 59th Street.
Nantz said they never worried about being harassed by disgruntled fans.
“At that time of day on a Sunday, many of the people on the subway are full-time residents,” Nantz said. “Most of them didn’t see our feed (of the Big East final).”
Joyce has prepared for her new assignment by hosting the CBS “At The Half” show during college basketball’s regular season. Without this background, trying to handle the selection show would be like cramming for a final exam. Likely grade: D.
“We know the 29 teams who get automatic bids,” said Joyce, who plans to speak with Brown before Sunday’s show to get some last-minute advice. “We know another handful of teams that are going to get in.”
The network’s researchers have prepared information on all the “bubble” teams.
“If you watch the show,” Joyce said, “it’s very methodical. It’s not like all of a sudden (saying), ‘There’s 64 teams!’ We will have more information on Florida International than anybody could possibly use. There’s a tendency to tell more than people want to know. We have to edit ourselves.”
When she isn’t spending time with her two sons and husband Harry Smith, co-anchor for the “CBS Morning News,” Joyce keeps up with hoops nightly by watching games on ESPN.
“We’ve traded ‘Barney’ and ‘Sesame Street’ for ESPN this week,” she said, laughing.
Looking ahead, Joyce added, “(The selection show) is much like any other live event. You’re as prepared as you can be. There are bound to be surprises. It should be fun.”
The fun won’t stop when the show goes off the air. CBS Radio is doing a live, 3-hour, call-in show immediately following the telecast. Coaches and sports personalities will be featured on the show, hosted by sportscasters John Rooney and Ron Franklin.