Longtime voice of the men’s NCAA Tournament Jim Nantz is stepping down from the position after this coming season and will be replaced by Ian Eagle, per the New York Post.
Nantz has been the lead voice of the men’s tournament since 1991, replacing Brent Musburger after the latter’s abrupt firing during the 1990 Final Four. This season’s Final Four is taking place in Houston, Texas, where Nantz attended college.
Despite stepping down from the play-by-play role, Nantz reportedly intends to continue handling the trophy presentation.
The NCAA Tournament marks the first lead role for Eagle, who also sits behind Nantz on the CBS NFL depth chart. There is no indication that Nantz will give up his NFL role anytime soon or his role as the voice of the Masters golf tournament.
Eagle joins a growing list of newcomers to the championship stage. Fox Sports’ Joe Davis and Kevin Burkhardt will debut as voices of the World Series and Super Bowl, respectively, in the coming months. Further down the line, NBC’s Mike Tirico is slated to get his first Super Bowl play-by-play assignment in 2026.
In other NCAA Tournament broadcasting news, former Villanova coach Jay Wright has joined CBS as a college basketball analyst and will work studio coverage of the NCAA Tournament next season. That news was also reported by the New York Post last week.
