The 2026 Awful Announcing NCAA men’s tournament announcer rankings

The 2026 Men’s NCAA Tournament concludes Monday night when the Michigan Wolverines meet the UConn Huskies for the national championship.

Ian Eagle, Bill Raferty, and Grant Hill will be on the call, but we’ve heard from a handful of different announcing teams during the tournament. We asked Awful Announcing readers to weigh in on the eleven March Madness booths. Almost 4,000 individual grades later, we have our answers on which ones you liked and which ones you think might need some work.

As with all our rankings, each booth was graded from A to F, with readers providing comments on individual teams. We then converted the letter grades from those responses to numerical grades, with A as 4 and Fs as 0, and ranked the booths accordingly.

The average grade across the eleven booths was a 2.67, down slightly from last year’s 2.89. However, it’s worth noting that Awful Announcing readers seem to like the NCAA Tournament booths more than booths in most other sports in these rankings. That said, this is the third straight year we’ve seen a drop in the score.

11. Brian Anderson, Charles Barkley, Dick Vitale, and Jenny Dell (1.56)

While working alongside Dick Vitale might have been one of the coolest things Charles Barkley has ever done, audiences at home didn’t feel the same way about their call of the Texas-NC State First Four game. This team garnered a very even number of grades across all five options. While they received 21.3% As and 22% Bs, they received far and away the most F grades (14.7%), leading to an overall score of 1.56. The announcing crew was hampered by Brian Anderson’s voice going on him, but many voters simply didn’t enjoy the Vitale-Barkley combo and felt like the broadcast was more about them than the actual game. However, many voters appreciated the sentiment of letting Dick Vitale call his first tournament game.

10. Jordan Kent, Jim Spanarkel, and Jenny Dell (1.82)

The other First Four crew didn’t fare too much better, with Jordan Kent, Jim Spanarkel, and Jenny Dell garnering middling grades overall. They did get a substantial number of Bs (34.3%), but their top grade was a C (39.7%), which helped drag their overall score down to 1.82. For what it’s worth, they received very few Fs. Low grade aside, the team did receive some kudos, with one voter going as far as to say it was their top tourney team. “Kent met the moment, and he showed he could hang. He’s better than half the play-by-play guys CBS has. Spanarkel was the perfect color guy for the broadcast.” Dell also received some plaudits from voters. Ultimately, only calling the First Four might have hampered their overall performance here.

9. Tom McCarthy, Candace Parker, Dan Bonner, and AJ Ross (1.96)

This first- and second-round crew also saw a significant number of C grades (42%), but a strong showing of Bs (28.6%) and As (13.1%) helped elevate them above the bottom of the pack, for an overall score of 1.96. This team received fairly mixed reviews from voters. McCarthy was mostly praised for being a solid pro on the call. Parker was dubbed a “revelation” by some, though others felt the three-person booth hadn’t quite “gelled.” Others still were disappointed that Dan Bonner had been “demoted” instead of getting a cushier assignment.

8. Brandon Gaudin, Chris Webber, and Andy Katz (2.15)

Another first- and second-round crew on the backend of the rankings, though one that performed a bit better in the grades. While garnering a healthy number of Cs (43.4%), it was elevated by a substantial number of Bs (30.4%), resulting in an overall score of 2.15. Gaudin received praise for “meeting the moment,” particularly in high-stakes games like Nebraska-Vanderbilt. Webber’s return was met with mixed feelings—some found him insightful and fresh, while others felt he was underprepared. Feedback on Katz ran the gamut, with some appreciating his insight and others wishing he were back in the studio. 

7. Brad Nessler, Wally Szczerbiak, and Jared Greenberg (2.39)

The Nessler, Szczerbiak, Greenberg crew is the first in the rankings to Bs as its top grade (44%). While they received a decent number of As (14.1%), a solid number of Cs (30.4%) kept them in the back half of the rankings, with an overall score of 2.39. Much of the feedback about Nessler was around how he is a broadcasting legend, but his basketball work isn’t quite on the same level as his football announcing. Szczerbiak was generally seen as a good addition to the booth, providing solid analysis. “Fine, but won’t blow you away” seemed to capture the overall feedback. 

6. Andrew Catalon, Steve Lappas, and Evan Washburn (2.50)

Here we have the first broadcasting team to work in the regional rounds. They actually had slightly fewer Bs (40.4%) than the Nessler crew, but a higher number of As (19.5%) and fewer Cs (28.8%) raised their overall score to 2.50. Catalon received the lion’s share of praise from voters, and Washburn was credited with being a pro’s pro. Unfortunately, Lappas was the focus of much of the negative feedback. Complaints ranged from his talking too much and loud delivery to his inability to remember player names, and, on a few occasions, to his not understanding what he was seeing on the court. All of that said, some voters did say they appreciated the booth’s chemistry despite these flaws.

5. Spero Dedes, Jim Spanarkel, and Jon Rothstein (2.57)

Perhaps the most interesting finding in the rankings is that this crew, which worked the first two rounds of the tournament, received higher grades than one of the teams that worked the regional round. They not only scored a solid number of Bs (44%) but they scored more As (26.9%) than Cs (23.5%), which pushed them to fifth overall and a 2.57 score. “Criminally underrated” was something that multiple voters said about this crew. Spanarkel received a lot of respect for his steady analysis, and many voters felt this crew deserved to work into the tournament’s second weekend. Take note, CBS/TNT. 

4. Brian Anderson, Jim Jackson, and Allie LaForce (3.03)

We return to crews that worked into the regionals, and the Anderson-Jackson-LaForce team received extremely high marks. While their top grade was a B (42%), they received a substantial number of As (37.3%), resulting in an overall grade of 3.03. Most of the feedback revolved around this broadcasting team being “rock-solid,” “professional,” and “inoffensive.” LaForce was frequently highlighted as one of the best sideline reporters in the entire tournament. There were some who felt the broadcasting pairing was a little “plain” and that Anderson’s style is better suited for baseball. Still, an extremely strong showing overall.

3. Jason Benetti, Jim Jackson, and Allie LaForce (3.22)

Well, this is awkward. Benetti subbed for Brian Anderson on this crew after he lost his voice in the First Four. Anderson later returned, but it seems like our voters had a little more appreciation for the Benetti version of this broadcasting team. They received slightly more As (38.2%) and Bs (44.3%), which pushed their overall grade over the top to 3.22. Much of the feedback here was for Benetti, who was praised for stepping in on short notice and delivering a “masterful” performance. Many voters also expressed a desire to see Benetti get a permanent spot calling tourney games. Alas, he’s probably going to be a little busy in April from now on for that. 

2. Kevin Harlan, Robbie Hummel, Stan Van Gundy, and Lauren Shehadi (3.53)

In any other setting, you’d have to imagine this would have been the broadcasting team at the top of the rankings. This crew garnered an astounding 71.7% A grades. Coupled with 20.8% Bs, and that didn’t leave very much room for any kind of lower score, hence the 3.53 overall grade. Tons of voters praised the “energy” and “chemistry” on this crew, which many cited as their favorite of the entire tournament. Hummel received lots of praise as a rising star and “heir apparant” to Bill Raftery. Of course, Harlan’s “enthusiasm” was a major factor in the high scores. While Van Gundy received plenty of high marks, some did find his style “occasionally grating,” but the critical comments were few and far between.

1. Ian Eagle, Bill Raftery, Grant Hill, and Tracy Wolfson (3.68)

Was there any doubt? The NCAA Tournament’s lead announcing team is there for a reason. That was reflected in their overwhelming number of As (75%), resulting in an overall grade of 3.68. We will note that this is down slightly from last year, when 80.3% of their votes were As, and their overall score dropped slightly from last year’s 3.7. The “gold standard” of tournament broadcasting teams, the team was overwhelmingly praised for their chemistry, with Raftery cited regularly as a “national treasure,” and Eagle noted as “the best play-by-play man in the business.” Some did want more from Hill, who tends to get overwhelmed by his broadcasting partners in big moments, but the consensus was clear: this is the team they want on the call for the tournament’s biggest moments.