Two stunning comebacks, two heads of state and that was just the first night of the NCAA tournament for Clark Kellogg, CBS’ lead college basketball analyst.
Next month Kellogg will call the Final Four for the fourth straight year since replacing Billy Packer, but he has already witnessed history on the court and that might not have qualified as the highlight of his Tuesday night. Kellogg interviewed President Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron at halftime of the night’s first game then saw a record-breaking comeback in the second.
“Unbelievable. I still feel like I was in the ‘Twilight Zone,’ ” Kellogg said of the tournament starting with Mississippi Valley State blowing a 16-point lead to Western Kentucky in the final five minutes and Iona allowing BYU to engineer the biggest rally in NCAA tournament history when the Cougars came back from 25 down to stun the Gaels.
“I can’t remember two comebacks like that ever, even on separate days,” he said.
And that could set the stage for an action-packed tournament.
“When it does happen in this way on the first day, it’s hard not to have your appetite whetted for more to follow,” Kellogg said. “There’s no way of knowing, but it does give you a sense of, ‘my goodness, we just saw something crazy and we’ve only played two of 67 games.’ ’’
In the past two years, we’ve witnessed consecutive stunning runs to the championship game by Butler and a surprising Final Four appearance by Virginia Commonwealth last season. Kellogg usually saves his cheering for his alma mater, Ohio State, but he will have a rooting interest in one double-digit seed this March.
Ohio University has what he calls a “comfortable matchup” with Michigan. The Bobcats also have one of Kellogg’s sons, Nick, starting at shooting guard.
Kellogg will be calling Duke-Lehigh tonight in Greensboro, N.C., at the same time his youngest son and 13th-seeded Ohio try to knock off Michigan in Nashville.
“I’ll be on the air and focused on my game. But believe me, on commercial breaks I may take a sneak peek at what’s going on with that game,” Kellogg said.
“I do think they have a chance not only to compete but pull an upset because of their style and how they match up with Michigan.”
Kellogg won’t have a hard time rooting against Michigan, being an Ohio State grad. He has joked he plans to wear red underneath his suit if the Buckeyes make it to the Final Four in New Orleans. But the prospect of calling games for a team he is so connected with is not ideal. It will be unavoidable, however, if Ohio State — which opened the tournament last night against Loyola (Md.) — makes a run to the Final Four.
“I love my alma mater as I’ve made clear through the years, but I’d rather be able to just cheer for them,” Kellogg said. “But when I am doing the game I am serving college basketball. I want them to win, but I don’t let it get into my broadcast.”