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Come Fan with UsThursday, August 6, 2026

Izzo, Smart to join ESPN Final Four coverage

Jonathan Daniel

ESPN will be live and on-site from the NCAA Tournament Final Four from Atlanta, Ga. starting Thursday, and they’re bringing two popular current college coaches with them.

Michigan State’s Tom Izzo and Virginia Commonwealth’s Shaka Smart will be guest analysts from ESPN, which will cover the last three games of the NCAA Tournament from Thursday, Apr. 4 until the day of the championship game, Monday, Apr. 8. The network will cover the games via SportsCenter segments, a three-hour College Gameday prior to the national semifinals on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET, and a two-hour edition on ESPN2 Monday at 7 p.m. ET, before the final game. SportsCenter will air a special show between the two games at 8 p.m. ET that night.

Rece Davis and John Anderson will host ESPN’s coverage. Dick Vitale, Jay Bilas, Digger Phelps, Seth Greenberg, Jay Williams, Bob Knight and Jalen Rose join Smart and Izzo as analysts. Andy Katz and Jeannine Edwards are reporters for team ESPN.

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