The days of Dick Vitale calling the big games on ESPN appear to be over. In a press release just off the press from ESPN, Vitale once again will not be on the call.
ESPN’s College GameDay Covered by State Farm – the Saturday morning and evening roadshow that discusses the top storylines of the college basketball season – will makes its final stop of the 2015 season from the campus of the University of North Carolina on Saturday, March 7, in advance of the Saturday Primetime Presented by DIRECTV matchup between No. 4 Duke vs. No. 15 North Carolina (9 p.m., ESPN). College GameDay – making its seventh appearance from this historic and highly-anticipated matchup – begins at 10 a.m. on ESPNU, continuing live at 11 a.m. on ESPN. The evening editions of the show, live from Chapel Hill, begin at 6 p.m. leading into No. 2 Virginia vs. No. 17 Louisville (6:30 p.m., ESPN) and again at 8:30 p.m. leading into the primetime matchup.
First-year College GameDay Covered by State Farm analysts Seth Greenberg and Jay Williams will join host Rece Davis and analyst Jay Bilas onsite. Dan Shulman, Bilas and reporter Shannon Spake will have the call of the game.
ESPN3 Surround will be available for the Duke-North Carolina game, featuring in-arena natural sound and views from above the rim cameras at each end of the floor.
GameDay will originate from Chapel Hill for the fourth time (2007, ’09 & ’13) and UNC will be a part of the show for the 11th time. Duke is making its record-12th appearance as part of the traveling studio show.
This season is the first time Vitale will not call a Duke vs UNC game since 1979.