Release
NATION'S TOP TWO COLLEGE BASKETBALL TEAMS TAKE CENTER COURT ON CBS SPORTS' ON SATURDAY, FEB. 17 AND SUNDAY, FEB. 18
No. 1 Florida at Vanderbilt and No. 2 Ohio State at Minnesota Highlights Weekend's Action
CBS Sports' Lead College Basketball Analyst Billy Packer and Studio Analyst Seth Davis Talk Hoops
CBS Sports' ROAD TO THE FINAL FOUR continues the nation's top two teams take center court. In regional action on Saturday, Feb. 17 (1:00-3:00 PM, ET) No. 1-ranked Florida takes on Vanderbilt, No. 5-ranked UCLA visits *No. 19-ranked Arizona and Army plays Navy.
On Sunday, Feb. 18 (1:00 -3:00 PM, ET) regional coverage is highlighted by No. 2-ranked Ohio State against Big Ten rival Minnesota and an ACC showdown, between Georgia Tech and Duke.
All contests will be broadcast in HDTV.
Following are the talent and production assignments for the next two weekends:
Saturday, February 17
1:00-3:00 PM, ET
No. 1-ranked Florida at Vanderbilt Craig Bolerjack/Clark Kellogg Vic Frank/Mark Grant
No. 5-ranked UCLA at No. 19-ranked Arizona Dick Enberg/Bill Raftery Craig Silver/Suzanne Smith
Army vs. Navy Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel Steve Karasik/Bryan Lilley
Sunday, February 18
1:00-3:00 PM, ET
Georgia Tech at Duke Verne Lundquist/Billy Packer Bob Dekas/Bob Fishman
No. 2-ranked Ohio State at Minnesota Tim Brando/Dan Bonner Steve Scheer/Jim Cornell
Saturday, February 24 - Tripleheader
12:00-2:00 PM, ET
No. 18-ranked Oklahoma State at Texas Tech Dick Enberg/Bill Raftery Bob Mansbach/Mike Arnold
2:00-4:00 PM, ET
No. 7-ranked Pittsburgh at No. 14-ranked Georgetown
Tim Brando/Mike Gminski Ken Mack/Cathy Barreto
4:00-6:00 PM, ET
No. 1-ranked Florida at LSU Gus Johnson/Clark Kellogg Steve Scheer/Mark Grant
Sunday, February 25 - Tripleheader
12:00-2:00 PM, ET
Louisville at Connecticut Kevin Harlan/Dan Bonner Craig Silver/Bryan Lilley
2:00-4:00 PM, ET
Duke at St. John's Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel Mark Wolff/Suzanne Smith
Houston at No. 8-ranked Memphis Craig Bolerjack/Bob Wenzel Vic Frank/Chris Svendsen
4:00-6:00 PM, ET
No. 3-ranked Wisconsin at No. 2-ranked Ohio St. Verne Lundquist/Billy Packer Bob Dekas/Bob Fishman
AT THE HALF®, CBS Sports' halftime studio show is hosted by Gus Johnson and Sports Illustrated's Seth Davis, from the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City providing all the day's news, scores and highlights. Vin DeVito produces and Barreto directs.
Tony Petitti is Executive Vice President and Executive Producer, CBS Sports.
(*Coaches poll rankings as of 02/13/07)
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Courtside with CBS Sports' Lead College Basketball Analyst Billy Packer
(NCAA Tournament No. 1 Seeds): Florida will be ranked number one. The winner of the Wisconsin-Ohio State game next week will be the number two team. North Carolina will be number three. And the number four team will be UCLA...(On Florida-Vanderbilt): Florida is the number one team in the country. It's hard to believe that they had to rally from double digit numbers to beat Alabama at home. It just shows the balance around the country. Even in regard to teams that look like they're Final Four-bound, as Florida is. Vanderbilt is certainly one of the surprise teams in the SEC and a very tough out in the early rounds of the NCAA tournament...(On UCLA-Arizona): Arizona was left for dead after the North Carolina game and even looked like Lute Olsen would be stymied in getting to his 23rd straight NCAA tournament. Since that time they have played like a top-10 team. Arizona, now, is not playing for a spot in the NCAA tournament but playing for a situation where they could go deep into the tournament. Despite UCLA's loss at West Virginia in a tough road game without Darren Collison, this is a match-up of two teams that have great talent. In the case of UCLA, certainly that loss last week doesn't diminish. It looks like they're a number one seed...(On Ohio State-Minnesota): Ohio State dodged a bullet at Penn State. I don't think that will be an issue for Minnesota, a team that's really reeling in the Big Ten. This will set up a huge match up, for not only the Big Ten Championship, but the number one seed between Ohio State and Wisconsin on our air next week...(On Georgia Tech-Duke): Georgia Tech and Duke find themselves in a position that no one forecast in the pre-season. Both at .500-or-less in the ACC, but both with solid chances to be NCAA tournament teams. Georgia Tech beat Duke earlier in the year. Both teams are extremely young. Duke had a huge win against Boston College to potentially turn their season around.
Jump Shots with CBS Sports' Studio Analyst Seth Davis
(On UCLA): UCLA would still be in position to get a number one seed in the NCAA tournament even if they lose at Arizona, but a loss could take away the Bruins' remaining margin for error. More important, Arizona needs to win to demonstrate to itself that it is capable of making a run deep into the tournament. If nothing else, Arizona should get a good lesson in playing defense, because the Wildcats are woefully lacking in that department. Whereas, UCLA might be the best perimeter defensive team in the country...(On Florida): My gut tells me that Florida will lose one more game between now and the NCAA tournament. But, not only do I think they are the favorite to win the whole thing, I think they are quickly becoming a prohibitive favorite...(On Georgia Tech-Duke): Georgia Tech could virtually punch its ticket to the Dance by winning in Cameron. The Jackets have won four straight, including a classic pseudo-elimination game in Tallahassee Tuesday night. The committee heavily weighs the last 10 games, and that's especially true for a team that is so young.