The NCAA Tournament needs more TV networks involved Mar18 '07

You might as well call the NCAA Tournament the "CBS Tournament."

I, like many other college basketball fans, enjoy watching the NCAA Tournament games every March, and it's not just because of the "bracket pool madness," or having money involved.

I enjoy the excitement, atmosphere, and interesting match-ups causing very close finishes. No matter what your school is ranked, or how far the "experts" place you, every game is resolved in only one way: whoever plays the hardest, and wants it more.

My problem is CBS. They've locked down television rights to the NCAA Tournament for 10 billion years, and since they're only one network, only one game is shown at a time.

What if I don't want to watch the current game that is on? There are no other networks involved, so I'm stuck watching a sports ticker across the top of the screen. How exciting.

To be fair, CBS does try to match "local interest" with whatever game is on. So, if the University of Illinois is on, that game will be televised in Illinois, and the Chicago-land area.

CBS also switches games if there is a close finish happening elsewhere - so fans can see the end of the game.

But, this is still not enough. They need to include other networks, or at least have a "sub-CBS" network, such as "CBS Plus," or something like that. (ESPN has a half-dozen sub-networks.)

This year, the United Center in Chicago is one of many hosts in the midwest region for the first and second rounds. Personally, since I am living near Chicago, I'd like to see the games going on at the United Center. As of this date, I think CBS has shown only one United Center game.

UNLV is playing right now, and I'd like to see them before they get bounced.

I understand "money talks," and CBS has paid a lot of money to be the sole network for the NCAA Tournament, but this should be about the fans.

Categories: Rants , Sports , Television

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