CBS’ Allie LaForce talks excitement covering NCAA Tournament, Player of the Year candidates

Allie LaForce of CBS took the time to sit down and discuss the greatness of the NCAA Tournament and Player of the Year candidates

When it comes to major sporting events, there are a lot of factors that go into making it great to watch on television. One of the major components in making a sporting event great is the broadcast team, and that most certainly includes the valuable sideline reporters. When it comes to the NCAA Tournament and March Madness every year, the CBS crews do an amazing job of covering the plethora of games, and one of the best sideline reporters in the business is Allie LaForce.

LaForce can also be seen on CBS covering the SEC college football season as it progresses, but having been a former basketball player herself for Ohio University, covering the NCAA Tournament is definitely her most favorite part of the sideline gig for the company.

“Hands down, there’s nothing like it. Nothing even close,” LaForce said. “I just think, having played college basketball, I just have a passion for the game. I grew up playing basketball with my aunt who actually lived with us growing up and helped my parents raise all three of us. She was a varsity basketball coach for around 20 years, so we grew up in the gym. What I love about the tournament is that it brings everyone in our country together and you wake up every morning wanting to turn on the TV and see what happened. And this year, more than ever, at least as long as I can remember, everyone had a chance in those first couple rounds of games. It was just so fun seeing the emotion and excitement.”

Then the CBS sideline reporter reflected on her own playing days to further describe just how special March Madness is.

“I can remember –and this is nothing like playing in the NCAA Tournament– but I remember being in the MAC Tournament and we beat our No. 1 seed in double overtime to go to the championship game and you would have thought we won the national championship,” LaForce added. “I remember what that feeling was like, and I can’t imagine for these student athletes, being on the biggest stage of their lives, getting that opportunity, I live it through them and I think the fans do too. And that’s what makes it the best time of year.”

With this past college basketball season being one of the more parity-driven in recent memory, we all knew that we were in store for some excitement come tournament time. And we were right. There were so many good games, but when it comes to picking a favorite from the opening weekend, LaForce has to stick with the one that she was on-hand to see for herself, that being the crazy finish between Notre Dame and Stephen F. Austin from this past Sunday.

The game came to a dramatic close when one of the unsung heroes of the Irish, Rex Pflueger, tipped the ball in with time running down to advance Notre Dame with the 76-75 win over the Lumberjacks.

“I really enjoyed our Stephen F. Austin-Notre Dame game, “LaForce said. “Just because I genuinely felt pain for Stephen F. Austin and I genuinely felt excitement for Notre Dame. You had a senior class at Stephen F. Austin that had put that school on the map, that have so much pride on their shoulders and they had that game in full control the last couple of minutes. Then you have Notre Dame who you can’t take any credit away from. They outworked Stephen F. Austin; they wanted that rebound so much more.”

Pflueger then received some much deserved praise for his effort.

“That last tip-in came from a player you never expected, but he is the hero of the game. I just think the storylines from that game in general just sort of encompass everything that we love about college basketball and what we love about tournament time.”

Seeing as she was working the game, it was easy to pick that game as her favorite from the beginning weekend. But when you have the busy occupation that she has as a sideline reporter, it’s tough to catch all of the games as they’re happening.

“The problem is, since we were working so much, whether it was going to eight practices on Thursday or four on Friday, you know I watched highlights of the really great games, but I didn’t really get to see them in person,” LaForce said. “So from my site I was working, I really enjoyed that game the most.”

One of the moments that will forever be ingrained in people’s minds from the first two rounds of the 2016 NCAA Tournament was the first-round, half-court buzzer beater from Northern Iowa’s Paul Jesperson to propel them to a win over Texas. After the shot, many were talking about it being maybe the greatest buzzer beater of all-time, and definitely in the history of the NCAA Tournament.

“I can genuinely say I watched that highlight maybe 15 times. I just wanted to see it over and over again. It’s definitely the best that I’ve ever seen. The best of all-time is hard to say because I don’t have perspective. I’ve watched the tournament since I was eight or nine years old, but that’s not much time. But from what I’ve seen in person, since I’ve followed the tournament, hands down that was the best.”

All of that first and second round action out of the way now, it’s time to move closer to the Final Four, and that all begins with the Sweet 16. This weekend, LaForce will be joining the broadcast crew of Verne Lundquist and Jim Spanarkel for the West Region semifinal between No. 4 Duke and No. 1 Oregon. LaForce added some of her keys to this matchup.

“I think for Duke what’s a huge advantage for them is experience,” LaForce said. “They’re a really mature team and they’re obviously one of the best coached teams in the nation. Anytime you have Coach K at the helm, that’s a huge advantage for you. [Grayson] Allen and [Brandon] Ingram, what I like about them is they can score inside and outside, and they’re just so hard to defend that you have to put all of your focus and attention on them. I think [Mason] Plumlee needs to stay out of foul trouble and Duke has to lock down on defense.”

Oregon, one of the faster teams in the tournament, could present some problems for the Blue Devils on Thursday.

“Oregon can give them fits because they’re really athletic,” LaForce added. “They wanna run and they wanna run fast. Both of these teams are just well-rounded basketball teams; they don’t have a glaring hole or weakness. So I just think it’ll really come down to personnel and executing game plans. Just mental and physical focus.”

The NCAA Tournament is a chance for the spotlight to be shed on some of the best individual players in college basketball, and this past week, the finalists for the 2016 Naismith Award were announced. The final voting will come down between Buddy Hield of Oklahoma, Denzel Valentine of Michigan State, Tyler Ulis of Kentucky and Malcolm Brogdon of Virginia. So, who is the choice of the experienced sideline reporter?

“It’s no doubt between Valentine and Hield,” LaForce said. “I’ve been fortunate the last couple of years to cover Denzel Valentine and he’s a really good person and player, and what I like is that he brings so much to the table for that team — rebounding, attacking the basket, shooting, scoring, he’s a great teammate and he’s a leader. But it’s so hard for me to pick against Buddy Hield. I think he represents everything that a student-athlete should want to represent, from the way he presents himself on and off the court to his incredible ability to score over and over again when he’s been faced with the toughest competition and the biggest spotlights. That is when he’s performed his best, and to me he should be the Player of the Year.”

Allie is working with Reese’s on their sponsorship of #MarchMadness and is helping Reese’s celebrate the highs and deal with the lows of the tournament by using #MarchMood on social media.

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