This power ranking has been coming together for many months. Sports commentators are insanely important at Action on Fourth. It enhances the quality of a game and keeps viewers entertained.
We did not include any regional network commentators as bias can kick-in, and we obviously don’t get to hear all of their calls either. Additionally, we only included active or recently retired sports commentators.
First, the Honorable Mention:
- Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson – These two have been the color commentators for the NBA Finals on ESPN for a decent amount of time. They always have interesting and controversial takes. They love to scrutinize certain foul calls and overall, it is always nice to hear their voices come June.
- Rece Davis – Rece is the man. He does not do much commentating outside of a few College Basketball and Football games that is why he is on the Honorable Mention list. However, one of the best shows in the world is College Gameday on Saturday Mornings, and Rece does a world-class job hosting that show.
- Greg Gumbel – Similar to Rece, Greg is a tier 1 host for College Basketball on CBS especially when he announces the field of 68 for the NCAA Tournament. Greg will randomly get an NFL game and he does a great job when he does.
- Scott Van Pelt – Started at ESPN in the Golf Department, but now he hosts the best show on TV right now, SportsCenter at Night with SVP. He knows what to say, how to say, what’s appropriate, provides excitement, provides insights, asks great questions and best of all his segment of “Bad Beats.”
- Kenny Albert – One may call Kenny… “Well-rounded.” Kenny Albert is one of the few commentators that has called all professional sports and the ONLY one who actively does. He is currently the Number 1 guy for NHL. Kenny has a good call. Also, tried hard to fit Kenny into the top 15.
- Brad Nessler and Gary Danielson – Combining these two because they work excellent together on the SEC on CBS. Gary does an excellent job on the color and Brad was a great choice to succeed Verne Lundquist.
- Ian Eagle – Ian Eagle always has a great call and does a great job as the #2 guy for the NFL on CBS. You can always catch him doing a greasy Jets vs Patriots game. Also, will get some NBA games and College Basketball games on the TNT or TBS.
- Brent Musburger – All-timer. He currently does play-by-play for the Las Vegas Raiders and is a host on the VSIN network.
Top 15:
15. Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit – This duo always handles the primetime College Football game on ESPN or ABC. They always bring good energy and Kirk has a ton of experience and good expertise. Solid 15.
14. Tony Romo – Romo was an instant success the second he stepped into the CBS studio to replace Phil Simms. Romo loves to predict the play that is coming and does so with ease. He has little filter, which makes listening to him exciting.
13. Mike Breen – BANGGG! Mr. Breen has recently been handling the NBA Finals with passion. Always want him on the call when there’s a buzzer beater.
12. Dick Vitale – Dickey V! Prayers to this legendary voice as he is battling cancer right now. Classic College Basketball voice for ESPN. Always promoting the Jimmy V Foundation. It was awesome hearing him back for the Gonzaga vs UCLA game recently.
11. Mike Trico – Mike made his presence known when he did the play-by-play on Monday Night Football with Jon Gruden. Then he made a power move by going from ESPN to NBC. Mike does an excellent job hosting Football Night in America, the pregame show for Sunday Night Football, along with calling Notre Dame games. Mike also did a great job hosting the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
10. Marv Albert – Marv recently retired this past NBA playoffs. Just an all-time classic voice. Known as the “Voice of the New York Knicks,” and the “Voice of Basketball.” Calling multiple NBA Finals from 1990 to 2002.
9. Jim Nantz – Top guy for CBS. The Masters, Super Bowls, and Final Fours make for a solid resume.
8. Bob Costas – Costas has been there and done that. He is for the most part retired but will randomly call a game on the MLB Network. He has done everything under the sun for NBC from Boxing to Golf to the NHL to the NFL. He hosted the Olympics from 1988 Seoul to his last one with Rio in 2016. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2018. Bob is also an excellent storyteller.
7. Kevin Harlan – This one may come as a surprise, but that is because Mr. Harlan remains one of the most underrated announcers in the game today. If you listen to him closely, he has one of the best calls, and he can do any game necessary. Kevin currently does play-by-play for NFL and college basketball games on CBS and NBA on TNT. Kevin has a focus on the radio as well, where he has done eleven consecutive Super Bowls for Westwood One, and eleven is the most consecutively in radio, and television, network history.
6. Verne Lundquist – Lundquist has had a great career and probably is best known for the SEC on CBS, where he was the play-by-play guy from 2000 to 2016. His final college football game was Army-Navy in 2016, where he gave a somber going away speech. He still does golf and college basketball for CBS, so you can still hear him on the Amen Corner Masters call.
5. Mike Emrick – Recently retired Mike Emrick cracks the top-5 as he made the NHL and Stanley Cup Finals a must watch when he called big games.
4. Joe Buck – Controversial one here as many people are not on the Joe Buck train, but granted he has an excellent call especially for the World Series, where he has lots of pauses, doesn’t talk to much, and lets the crowd do the rest. He asks a lot of questions to the color commentator with him and to the audience as well. He loves to stir the pot like “Why did the Cardinals do this…?” or “What if this happened?” Buck is the number one guy for FOX for NFL and for the World Series.
3. Al Michaels and Chris Collinsworth – Had to combine these two. They have perfected the NFL call making Sunday Night Football a must watch.
2. Gus Johnson – Gus is hands-down the best play-by-play voice right now. He is FOX’s number one guy for college football and basketball. He calls every game and play with a ton of enthusiasm like a little kid on Christmas morning. Seeing him smile makes us smile.
1. Bill Raftery – Yep! Old Raft gets number 1 on the power rankings. He has called multiple final fours and has many hilarious sayings that he sprinkles into his broadcasts as the color commentator. Some of the best ones are “Get those puppies organized” (Great footwork, ball movement, and overall great offense that leads to a good shot) “A little Nylon” (Big three) “Send it in big fella!” (Big man dunk) “Kiss off the glass” (Banked in shot) “MAN2MAN” (At the beginning of every game based on the what defense the team is playing) “Nickel-Dimer” (Cheap/bad foul called) and “Onions!” (Something crazy happened).
Thanks for reading! Who’d we forget? Comment below.