It’s approximately 1:50 p.m. ET on Sunday afternoon. CBS is just half an hour away from its first Elite Eight game of the day, a matchup between the No. 1 seed Houston Cougars and the No. 2 seed Tennessee Volunteers.
But for those tuned into the network’s pregame show, there wasn’t much discussion about the game.
Instead, CBS dedicated 10 minutes of studio programming to showcase Oz Pearlman, A.K.A. Oz the Mentalist. Sports fans have become intimately familiar with Oz’s work over the years, and that’s because the man seems to be everywhere. In fact, this is the second time Oz has appeared on CBS coverage of the NCAA Tournament this year alone.
Why is that?
Pearlman has no expertise in sports. He’s not breaking down game film. He’s not even giving the half-baked hot takes that most studio analysts excel at. Oz the Mentalist is doing the exact same trick he’s been doing on these sports studio shows for years. And as impressive as the trick is, anyone who sees the same exact trick a dozen times over eventually will get tired of it.
Abbey Road is an amazing album, but it’s not the only album you’ll ever listen to, even if you’re the biggest Beatles fan in the world.
Sunday, Oz pulled off another one of his grand illusions alongside the CBS Sports March Madness crew of Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Jay Wright, and Clark Kellogg. He revealed his perfect (so far) Elite Eight “predictions” to the amazement of the studio crew.
.@OzTheMentalist predicted the Elite Eight back on March 20th 🤯
Oz’s Final Four:
Florida ✅
Duke ✅
Houston 👀
Auburn 👀 pic.twitter.com/tkkAnXgqfB— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 30, 2025
Woo. At least this time, he’s putting his reputation on the line by predicting the outcome of games that haven’t been played yet. But other than that, Pearlman’s shtick has grown tiresome.
And it’s no fault of his own. It’s simply overexposure. At this point, Pearlman has performed on HBO’s Hard Knocks, ESPN’s College GameDay, NFL Countdown, Get Up, and SportsCenter, Golf Channel’s Live From, NFL Network’s NFL GameDay Morning, and likely countless other sports programs.
An Oz the Mentalist segment is simply lazy programming. It’s admitting that your own studio team cannot be as entertaining as a magician. And, while that may be true in some cases, isn’t it your job to make a compelling show? Do we need to rehash the same gimmick we sports fans have seen a million times already?
No disrespect to Oz; he’s clearly a tremendous talent. But sports fans aren’t watching a pregame show to see Charles Barkley get his mind blown by a mentalist.
It might be a good thing if Houston or Auburn lose today. Maybe Oz will finally lose some of his mystique, and networks will stop forcing him down our throats.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.