Dick Vitale reveals plans to shutdown TV appearances for remainder of season

ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale has been going through some health problems over the past few months. Most recently, he was diagnosed with Dysplasia on the vocal cords and was told he needed to rest up his voice.

After some time off, Vitale made the sad announcement on Monday that he was done calling college basketball games for the season on ESPN. He did give an update on how his health was progressing, though, and credited the time off to the positive uptick.

So, while I’m heartbroken that I won’t appear on ESPN for the rest of this season, I’m encouraged by the progress,” Vitale said in his statement. “In fact, it appears that by resting my voice for the past three weeks, I’ve reduced the inflammation by 60 percent. Let’s hope the added rest will help it heal some more, and things will look even better when I go for my next follow-up visit on Feb. 16. Once the inflammation heals, we will set a date for surgery.”

Vitale did say his ultimate goal is to be back courtside, calling games during the 2022-2023 season. He closed out his statement by saying the updates will continue and he will be watching the rest of the 2021-2022 season at home.

“I will continue to provide updates as I go along, and I am firm in my belief that I will win this battle and be back doing what I love – calling games at courtside next season,” Vitale said. “In the meantime, I will enjoy all the great games from my living room and savor the love of my marvelous family. Thank you all.”

Latest AP poll released

As Dick Vitale would want, back to the subject of the actual games being played on the court.

Week 11 saw some marquee matchups on the college basketball slate, and the results have drastically impacted the latest AP top 25 poll. Multiple top ten teams lost on the week, and multiple ranked teams went winless on the week.

1. Auburn (18-1)
2. Gonzaga (15-2)
3. Arizona (16-1)
4. Baylor (17-2)
5. Kansas (16-2)
6. Purdue (16-3)
7. UCLA (13-2)
8. Houston (17-2)
9. Duke (15-3)
10. Michigan State (15-3)
11. Wisconsin (15-3)
12. Kentucky (15-4)
13. Texas Tech (15-4)
14. Villanova (14-5)
15. USC (16-2)
16. Ohio State (12-4)
17. Providence (16-2)
18. Tennessee (13-5)
19. LSU (15-4)
20. UConn (13-4)
21. Xavier (14-4)
22. Marquette (14-6)
23. Iowa State (14-5)
24. Illinois (13-5)
25. Davidson (16-2)

Auburn is ranked No. 1 in the AP poll for the first time in program history. Bruce Pearl’s squad is fresh off a win at home against Kentucky and is the favorite to win the SEC regular-season championship. No team in college basketball is hotter than the Tigers.