The 2026 First Four games will be held from March 17-18. It has not been announced on which night the two will be present. The game they will call will be shown on truTV.
The broadcast will be the first time Vitale has called a NCAA tournament game in his 46-year broadcasting career. It will be Barkley’s first as well.
Vitale last was in Dayton during the 2019-20 college basketball season. He was part of the ESPN broadcast team for a February Friday night game when the Flyers hosted Davidson. He was part of a video package that played during a timeout which announced ESPN’s College Gameday show would be filmed on Dayton’s campus the following week.
Barkley is currently a host for the Inside the NBA pre- and postgame show acquired by ESPN for the first time this year and joined CBS Sports’ coverage of the NCAA tournament for past several iterations.
The duo of Barkley and Vitale will call their first game together Dec. 13 at the Indiana vs. Kentucky men’s basketball game to be broadcast on ESPN.
The 2025 First Four featured No. 16-seed Alabama State defeating No. 16 Saint Francis 70-68 and No. 11 North Carolina beating No. 11 San Diego State 95-68 on night one, and No. 16 Mount St. Mary’s defeating No. 16 American 83-72 and No. 11 Xavier beating No. 11 Texas 86-80 on night two.
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