Gus is one of the best in the buisness.

Jimmy Dykes is great. He’s finally getting the prime time air he deserves. They had him tucked away on those late Monday night games doing the Mountain West.

I’m a Vitale fan. If you’re a college hoops fan and don’t love his passion for the game there is something wrong with you. Vitale and college hoops go hand in hand. I know he may be annoying to some, but he’s what college hoops is all about in my opinon.

ncaahoops – I don’t see how you could keep Raf out of the top 5. He breaks down action very well in my opinion.

Love Marques Johnson, so I echo what Nusser said before. Definitely see the appeal to Gus, but I’m not crazy over him.

There’s also a new analyst for ESPN, has dark hair and a real MILF appeal. I don’t know her name, but she’s done a FANTASTISC job in truly beinge a sideline reporter and getting useful information out of the people she interviews.

Verne, for example, should take on a role similar to Dick Enberg and read poems and essays or focus on golf and other slow-moving sports He gets so many things wrong, he looks up jersey numbers which shows he doesn’t even know the players or follow the teams or does his homework. It may be remarkable for his age, but millions of people should not be subjected to that

Bob Wenzel, I would rate in the top 500, not top 5

I think Doris Burke is a very underrated basketball analyst, and Vitale’s absence has allowed her to do more men’s games as the color analyst instead of the sideline reporter. ESPN would be better off if they put Vitale and Mike Patrick in the Duke cheering section, and let Doris analyze the games

Tim Brando is probably the most annoying of all the play by play guys, and Bob Carpenter’s voice is extremely annoying!

I agree, Marques Johnson needs more love, and CBS should seriously consider adding him to their NCAA tourney rotation instead of some of the flat-liners that probably Billy Packer is lobbying for.

Dykes is solid on the basketball front, but he sometimes says things that sociopolitically belong to the dark ages

This is a topic that deserves more coverage! For example, an overall top 5, would be different from a “top 5 solid basketball-analysis analyst”. I love Raft but I don’t think he is a top 5 in the latter.

And speaking of which, I wrote a pre-season funniest analysts list. If I remeber what I wrote, I rated the trio of Raftery/McDonut/Bilas as #1, Marques as #2, Raftery solo as #3, Pete Gillen as #4, and Tom Brennan at #5. What do you all think are the funniest analysts?

Now I know its obvious the better games will get the better guys in the booth but try watching/listening to an espn+ or full court game and you’ll hear some serious homers.

I do have another dispute. How Brad Nessler is not on your list is beyond me. I’d rank him and McDonough neck and neck, with Lundquist a distant third. Nessler can work with anyone, and anyone who can put up with Dickie V for entire seasons should be No. 1 just for not punching him in the face. Notice how well Nessler and Dykes have worked together while Vitale has been out? Spectacular.

The best analyst out there for my money is Marques Johnson. You only get to hear him if you watch the Pac-10 on FSN or FCS, but he is AWESOME. Smart, funny, and breaks down the game as well as anyone. Imagine Bilas with a personality. He’d be at the top of my list. Considering most of the clowns FSN puts on the air for Pac-10 games, it’s always good news when you hear Johnson is going to be calling one of your games.

Raftery is pretty good, but I prefer Dykes, who would be No. 2 on my list. That guy does not get the love he deserves — he’s the thinking man’s analyst, and has really shined in Vitale’s absence more than anyone else. But maybe that’s why he doesn’t get the love. Most fans don’t want to think. That’s why they love Vitale, who learns one little tidbit about a player and repeats it multiple times on every broadcast all season long.