The CBS announcing crew at the NCAA Tournament subregional at Alltel Arena in North Little Rock performed well Friday, except for a flaw that endured through their broadcasts of the two first-round games in North Little Rock in the morning and afternoon.
Play-by-play man Ian Eagle and analyst Jim Spanarkel apparently thought they were in Little Rock.
Excuses were plentiful. Greg Gumbel sent national and regional viewers to “Little Rock” from CBS’ studio in New York all afternoon. CBS Sports listed “Little Rock, AR” as the host city at cbs. sportsline. com. Tickets for the games Friday and secondround games Sunday were printed with the same error.
Viewers of CBS’ broadcast on KTHV, Channel 11, in Little Rock saw only cutaway scenes from the first game at Alltel, No. 7 seed Miami’s 78-64 victory over No. 10 Saint Mary’s. Those watching on KTHV saw much of Tennessee’s 72-47 victory over American in Birmingham, Ala., and the conclusion of Western Kentucky’s 101-99 overtime victory over Drake in Tampa, Fla.
All of CBS’ broadcast of the Miami-Saint Mary’s game, like every NCAA Tournament game, was streamed from start to finish at NCAA. com.
KTHV’s broadcast and the streaming broadcast were identical for most of the second afternoon game at Alltel Arena between No. 2 Texas and No. 15 Austin Peay.
The game, in “Little Rock,” was dominated from the start by Texas.
Eagle and Spanarkel spoke early of Texas Coach Rick Barnes’ statement that Texas ’ commitment for a series with Arkansas the next two seasons might hinge on Arkansas fans ’ treatment of Texas at Alltel Arena.
Though Barnes said he was joking, many fans supported Austin Peay from the start. But their cheers faded and had subsided to near silence by the time Texas had taken a 25-8 lead with eight minutes left in the first half en route to its 74-54 victory.

nwanews.com