In years gone by, March Madness often spilled into April for Jim Nantz.
For 33 years the legendary broadcaster served as the lead play-by-play commentator for CBS coverage of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament alongside his duties anchoring The Masters.
While he stepped away from his college hoops role in 2023, Nantz continues to work at the golf major and planned on getting down to Augusta National early for the first time this year.
But once again his travel plans could be disrupted — by his own alma mater.
On a CBS Sports call with the media ahead of the 2025 Masters, which begins on April 10, Nantz was asked if he has a new routine for getting to Augusta now he’s not required to call college basketball’s national championship game.
This year, he did indeed intend to get down earlier than usual, but the Houston Cougars had other ideas.
“I was prepared for this to be a new approach to Augusta this year, and the plan was to get there on Sunday before,” Nantz told the media.
“Then all of a sudden my University of Houston basketball team went on a roll and found its way to San Antonio, and I have to be there for that Saturday.
“That has brought an abrupt change to the current itinerary.”
Nantz, then, will be at another Final Four instead of Augusta this weekend.
Rather than calling the game, though, he will be watching his beloved Cougars from the stands.
So what happens if Houston upset Duke and make the national championship?
Well, the veteran broadcaster already has a masterplan in place for that, too.
“If we so happen to be fortunate enough to defeat Duke and play Monday night, I will be right back to my old schedule again,” Nantz continued.
“That is to fly out after the game Monday night or at the crack of dawn on Tuesday morning for Augusta.
“So here we go all over again.”
There is probably nothing Nantz would like to see more than his Cougars make the championship game, even if that does delay his travel plans.
But Cooper Flagg will be out to play spoiler.
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The Blue Devils are strong favorites to take the title and averaged 92 points as they roared through the initial four rounds of March Madness, putting up 100 on No. 4 Arizona and beating No. 9 Baylor by 23.
Flagg has been the man to watch throughout, and he racked up 30 points, seven assists and three blocks against Arizona in the Sweet 16 round alone.
The 18-year-old is on the verge of becoming the NBA‘s next big star, and would love nothing more than to finish his college career with a national championship.
Standing in his way in the Final Four, though, are the Cougars.
And while Nantz won’t be calling the game at the Alamodome, he will be watching as closely as anyone else as Houston looks to pull off a huge upset on Saturday night.
How to watch March Madness in the UK
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March Madness is one of the most exciting times of the year for basketball fans, with a total of 68 teams battling it out to become the Division 1 college champions.
This year UConn have the chance to become only the second team ever to complete a March Madness three-peat, having emerged victorious for the last two years.
talkSPORT will have the latest news on the tournament, but for UK basketball fans the way to watch is through Sky Sports. The broadcaster will be showing EVERY March Madness game through their Sky Sports + streaming service.
Click here to sign up to a Sky Sports subscription, or read our article on the best Sky Sports deals available now.
