Tennessee basketball is preparing for one of its biggest games of the season as the fifth-ranked Vols host No. 6 Alabama at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center on Saturday afternoon.
The big time matchup will have a big time broadcast crew as legendary college basketball announcer Dick Vitale is on the call for the game. Karl Ravech, Jimmy Dykes and Molly McGrath are joining Vitale on the call for the rivalry game.
Vitale, 85, returned to the scorer’s table earlier this month for Duke’s game against Clemson. It was the first time that Vitale, who battled cancer for 3.5 years, announced a college basketball game since 2023. The longtime color commentator announced that he was cancer-free on Jan. 8 before returning to broadcasting games a month later.
Since making his return to the scorer’s table, Vitale has called Duke-Stanford and Alabama-Kentucky last weekend.
Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes has been incredibly supportive of Vitale during his bout with cancer. Vitale previously shared that Barnes would text him a prayer every morning throughout his battles with cancer. The Jimmy V Foundation for cancer research, which Vitale is a board member for, honored Barnes at both the 2023 and 2024 V Foundation’s Dick Vitale Gala.
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Saturday will mark Vitale’s first time back at Thompson-Boling Arena in a number of years and could lead to a fun reunion for the legendary ESPN announcer and Tennessee’s head coach.
On the court, Tennessee is facing Alabama in a game of great significance for the Vols’ chances to earn a one-seed in the NCAA Tournament. Both teams are battling for a one-seed and have very similar resumes entering the matchup.
As of Thursday, ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi has Alabama as the third one-seed in his bracket and has Tennessee as the top two-seed.
The Vols enter the top 10 matchup riding a three-game winning streak in the series dating back to Tennessee’s home win over No. 1 Alabama in February 2023. Barnes’ 10th Tennessee team is also riding a three-game winning and boasts a 6-1 record in the month of February.
Tipoff between Tennessee and Alabama is at 4 p.m. ET Saturday afternoon and ESPN is broadcasting the game.
