Dana Jacobson is the consummate pro on the sidelines, getting the scoop in the heat of the battle and asking just the right questions when she talks to the player who just made the game-winner as time expired. Always composed and prepared, Jacobson has had a lifetime of training for her moments on camera, having logged a decade with ESPN before joining CBS in 2013. Jacobson has a clear, penetrating voice to match her clear, penetrating reporting — and that purposeful voice is to her advantage big time as “March Madness” lives up to its name. These arenas are loud.
The only thing that might jettison Jacobson’s customary cool is if the Michigan Wolverines, who surprised most hoops experts by winning the Big 10 Tournament, are in the hunt for March Madness glory. Jacobson took her degree in English and Communications at Michigan in the early 1990s. Yup, you calculated that right: Jacobson was in Ann Arbor for the Fab 5 frenzy, when Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, and company changed the entire perception of college basketball with their brash youth, big dunks, and little black socks. Jacobson obviously caught the NCAA basketball bug.
