Saturday marked the first day of March, and that saw plenty of madness in college basketball. Some came Saturday afternoon on ESPN, where the No. 5 Tennessee Volunteers pulled off a 79-76 home win over the No. 6 Alabama Crimson Tide thanks to a three-point buzzer-beater from senior guard Jahmai Mashack. And that came with a great reaction from ESPN announcers Karl Ravech, Dick Vitale, and Jimmy Dykes:
THIS.
IS.
MARCH.
🏀🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/4sC5xlUKUO
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 1, 2025
Interestingly enough, that only came after a lot of late drama. Mashack previously hit two free throws to tie the game after he was fouled on an offensive rebound attempt. The Tide then regained control after a loose ball with 3.8 seconds left, but were called for a five-second violation for not inbounding the ball within that span. That presented a final chance for Tennessee, and led to this shot from Mashack, and the ESPN announcing team (including Vitale, who’s always buzzed–about) going wild. (And this wrapped up just before puck drop in ESPN’s NHL Stadium Series game between the Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets in Ohio Stadium.)
This was just one of the many momentous SEC basketball games televised across ESPN’s networks Saturday. They also had No. 1 Auburn’s first win at No. 17 Kentucky since 1988 on ABC (although that was marred by horrendous second-half technical difficulties), and likely NCAA Tournament bubble team Arkansas’ surprising 72-53 loss to South Carolina on SEC Network. But this one had a particularly dramatic finish, and saw a great announcer reaction.
About Andrew Bucholtz
Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.