CBS Sports analyst Clark Kellogg breaks down Final Four, his job covering March Madness, and the Capital One Cup with FanSided
After two weekends of furious and enthralling college basketball action, March Madness has reached its final days as the 2016 Final Four tips off on Saturday evening. The remaining quartet of teams remaining are the North Carolina Tar Heels, Oklahoma Sooners, Syracuse Orange, and Villanova Wildcats. Making sure you don’t miss a beat the rest of the way in the Final Four and March Madness will be the Turner Broadcast team in the studio, including CBS Sports analyst and former Ohio State Buckeyes player Clark Kellogg.
Kellogg began his post-playing career in broadcasting in 1990 and has been with CBS covering college basketball since 1993. He’s become one of the faces and voices synonymous with college hoops and March Madness.
With the Final Four set to tip-off on Saturday, though, the fact that Kellogg’s gig of being on TV and covering the great sport of basketball is incredible and offers fans something great isn’t lost on him and isn’t something he takes for granted.
“To be a part of bringing one of the best sporting events on the calendar to the viewing public is a wonderful blessing and privilege. I never take it for granted or lightly. I’m grateful that I’m in the position I am and hope that we add to the viewers’ enjoyment.”
On the topic of his job, Kellogg continued in offering a bit of philosophical insight into why being able to cover college basketball on TV is so important to him. Namely it’s because of the relief that the sport can give to fans from the rigors of life.
“It is a positive elixir for people across the country and even beyond the country, those who follow it outside of the country. That’s a really neat thing to be a part of because there’s so much that’s not light and uplifting in our world. And when you can be part of something that is, then that’s a lot of fun and a wonderful privilege.”
In addition to working for CBS Sports, though, Kellogg is also serving as an ambassador for the Capital One Cup. Not only is the Cup a great program in terms of the great things they do for student athletes, but it also gives people within broadcasting and other careers the opportunity to have friendly rivalries as they support their alma-maters.
“It’s kind of cool to see where our respective schools are in the standings and you’re right, competition is part of our world and so it’s cool to have bragging rights when your school emerges. It was a lot of fun as the Buckeye football team won the first College Football Playoff Championship and they had to go through Alabama and then won the championship against Oregon. So, yeah, it was an opportunity to proudly beat my chest and go #GoBucks. I didn’t have any problem with that.”
More than the search for bragging rights, though, Kellogg is excited about what the Capital One Cup does for athletes.
“It’s wonderful because the Capital One Cup awards points based on top-10 finishes across men’s and women’s Division I sports from fall, winter, and spring sports seasons. So there’s always something at stake when you’re competing and you get a chance to be in a race for a national championship. And the trophy is wonderful if you’re program is able to get to the top of the Capital One Cup standings and the $400,000 in combined student athlete scholarship funds is just as important because of the impact in can make on empowering student athletes in their educational pursuits. To serve as an ambassador where excellence is rewarded and recognized in athletic competition and also there’s financial support given to the educational pursuits of student athletes. That’s an impactful win-win for me.
Interestingly enough, the Final Four has potential Capital One Cup implications on the right side of the bracket as Syracuse is currently in the top-5 of the standings and North Carolina has the chance to make up a lot of ground quickly if they can win a national title in basketball. Though Syracuse has had a fantastic run through their first four games in March Madness, Kellogg thinks the Tar Heels are the favorites right now.
“I think North Carolina is the favorite to win the national basketball championship. They have the fewest weaknesses of any of the four teams, I think. They’ve got tremendous talent and they’re playing well. So I think it’ll be an uphill battle for Syracuse. But the Orange have continued to prove me and others wrong with their play here in the tournament. They’ve found a way in great comeback wins in the last two games. But I still think North Carolina finds a way to move on. Syracuse, if they were in fact able to get to the national championship and win it, could vault to as high as No. 2 in the Capital One Cup standings with the 60 points that go to the national champion in the Final Four. So, there’s plenty at stake.”
While there may not be Capital One Cup implications on the other side of the March Madness bracket, the matchup between Oklahoma and Villanova is highly intriguing. With Sooners superstar Buddy Hield at the forefront, Kellogg says that he’s unsure if there’s any way to fully keep a player of his talents in-check. However, he has some ideas as to what the Wildcats will have to do to slow down Hield and Oklahoma.
“You don’t specifically keep a player of his caliber in-check. You want to slow him down and disrupt him. You want to make sure he doesn’t get a bunch of easy stuff. So that means contest all his shots, get to him quickly. He’s excellent in transition, so you’ve got to stay near him pretty much all the time. But he’s not by himself. You know, Oklahoma has won games where he’s not performed really well—at least to his normal standard. As a result, it’s going to be about beating Oklahoma. Buddy is a big part of that, so you try to slow him down. I think Villanova has enough different defenders that they can give him different looks. And one of the things Villanova does really well is pressure the ball and mix it up with the half-court and full-court pressure. So I think they’ll try to disrupt Oklahoma’s offensive rhythm with physicality and ball-pressure. And if they do that, then that gives them a pretty good chance to come out on top, I think.”
Again on that matchup, Kellogg sees it as an even matchup where both teams are experienced and where the outcome could ultimately come down to the simple matter of which team just plays better on Saturday night. When
“I think it’s an even matchup and it’s about performance. I don’t know if there’s much from an X-and-O standpoint that’s going to change from what these teams have done. Oklahoma gets up-and-down, they shoot it, they pass it, they share it. They’re good and solid defensively. One thing that’s going to be key is Khadeem Lattin, can he stay on the floor and avoid foul trouble? Will Villanova try and attack him with [Daniel] Ochefu to see if they can get him into some foul trouble? But otherwise it’s going to come down to the elements of makings shots and minimizing mistakes. I think those are the two things that universally, when teams are evenly matched, can be the difference.”
As for Kellogg’s predictions for Saturday’s Final Four matchups and who will win it all in Houston, he would only offer one prediction as he was undecided and wanted to save a bit for the CBS broadcast.
“I’ve only got one for you and that’s Carolina. I could be wrong on that, but I just think they’ll be good enough to beat Syracuse. The other game, I’m still going back-and-forth on where I’m going to land. I think both teams are more than capable. So I want to give a little bit more marination time to think on it to make a pick. I just don’t know. There’s something about Villanova that appeals to me: their ability to maybe slow down Oklahoma. And if they do, they may be a tad better equipped to win a grind-it-out game than Oklahoma is. Oklahoma is a little more reliant on its offense and Villanova not as much. And that could be the difference-maker. So, I don’t have a way to go for you right yet, so sorry about that. You’ll have to hear that one on the tube.”
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At the start of the Final Four, Clark is appearing on behalf of the Capital One Cup. In its sixth year, the Cup is awarded annually to each of the best men’s and women’s Division I college athletics programs in the country, with Capital One giving a combined $400,000 in student-athlete scholarships and the Capital One Cup trophy to the winning schools in July. Fans can find out more at www.capitalonecup.com or follow the program on Twitter and Facebook @CapitalOne. Currently, Clark’s alma mater Ohio State is in the top-10 on the mens’ side coming into the last two months of the competition!