The Cbs Broadcast Team For Our Game

[SUMG]

Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery. It's at the bottom of this story.

(story posted by Scottie on the M&G Board):

After winning the Conference USA championship game on Saturday, coach John Calipari said one of his biggest concerns was preventing the University of Memphis from becoming arrogant or overconfident heading into the NCAA Tournament.

But Calipari got plenty of fodder Sunday night when several prominent college basketball analysts -- including Dick Vitale, Doug Gottlieb and Seth Davis -- predicted early exits for the Tigers.

Memphis, the No. 2 seed in the South Regional, plays North Texas in a first-round matchup at 11:30 a.m. Friday at New Orleans Arena. And should the Tigers get by that game -- only four No. 15 seeds have ever won a game in the NCAA Tournament -- the Tigers would face either No. 7 seed Nevada or No. 10 seed Creighton at 1:15 Sunday afternoon.

"If you watched four hours of TV last night, Memphis may not have been mentioned but twice in passing, (as in) 'Nevada will get Memphis,'" Calipari said. "That's how we were mentioned in most of the stuff. That may get them going a little bit, but it's real simple. Everybody's opinion at this point is irrelevant. You throw it up, and you play now."

It's familiar territory for the Tigers, who were a popular pick to be an early-round upset victim last year as a No. 1 seed.

One thing the Tigers learned last year is not to look ahead at any possible matchups or scenarios beyond the one in front of them. Instead of Memphis getting upset, it was the other teams in the Tigers' bracket that fell by the wayside.

"Last year, I started to look ahead (thinking) we were going to play Arkansas," junior point guard Andre Allen said. "Then Arkansas lost, and we played Bucknell. Then I thought we'd play Pitt, and Pitt lost to Bradley. So after that, I stopped looking ahead."

Ticket concerns

Calipari said ticket requests are one of the biggest issues a coach has to deal with during NCAA Tournament week, especially when the Tigers are playing in such an accessible location for Memphis fans.

"We have 550 tickets," Calipari said. "Two hundred of them are upstairs. Just think about that. I already told them, our kids' parents and brothers and sisters do not sit upstairs. ... That takes 'X' amount of tickets away. That becomes a little bit of an issue. I just turn my phone off. There's 550. Every donor is going to call. But we just don't have it."

Though lower-level tickets are becoming scarce for this weekend, upper-level seats for New Orleans Arena were still available through Ticketmaster as of Monday night.

Scouting report

The Memphis coaching staff had a long night Sunday breaking down game film of North Texas, which won the Sun Belt Conference's automatic bid. The Mean Green finished tied for fifth in the league during the regular season but did claim November victories over C-USA foes Rice and Tulsa.

"They're very athletic, their wings are pretty long," Calipari said. "They negate our athleticism a little bit and negate our strength. It's a good matchup and a touch matchup."

Etc.

The Tigers will practice at the Finch Center on Wednesday before traveling to New Orleans via charter. ... Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery will be CBS' broadcast team for the New Orleans pod. Raftery, one of college basketball's top color analysts, has already seen Memphis once this year. He called the Tigers' 88-52 victory over SMU for ESPN on Feb. 3.

[UNTflyer]

There is not a lot of confidence in this Memphis team. I still say they are one of the weakest No. 2 seeds ever.

[MeanGreenBuzz]

I actually think Memphis is under-rated rather than over-rated. That being said we could upset them because we match up well to their speed and have 2 guys that can make transition 3s. Also I like how we match up to them down low. We seem more able to exploit their weaknesses than them to exploit ours with the exception of the full court press. If they press the whole game it could be very messy by halftime.

[CMJ]

Might I remind everyone that this was the broadcast team during Mason's run last year.

[adman]

I actually think Memphis is under-rated rather than over-rated. That being said we could upset them because we match up well to their speed and have 2 guys that can make transition 3s. Also I like how we match up to them down low. We seem more able to exploit their weaknesses than them to exploit ours with the exception of the full court press. If they press the whole game it could be very messy by halftime.

Any chance we press them as well?

[Got5onIt]

So does this mean the game will be nationally televised on CBS?

I just want to know before I buy the basketball package from ESPN.

[CMJ]

So does this mean the game will be nationally televised on CBS?

I just want to know before I buy the basketball package from ESPN.

There are 2 other games on at the same time. It will depend what region you're in.

[U_of_Elvis]

You will be able to watch it free online by going to ncaasports.com and clicking on "March Madness on demand". If it is not being aired by your local CBS affiliate then register with your correct zip code. If it is being shown by your local affiliate but you still need to watch it online they won't show it if you register with your local zip code. The best bet in that case is to look at the other games CBS at the same time a register with a zip code local to one of those teams since their CBS affiliate should be showing their game.