From 1988-1990, CBS only televised the championship game. From 1991 until the end of their coverage in 2002, CBS televised one game on the first Saturday of the World Series besides the championship game. Format change Prior to 1988, the College World Series was a pure double-elimination event. Beginning in 1988, the tournament was divided into two four-team double-elimination brackets, with the survivors of each bracket playing in a single championship game. The single-game championship was made for broadcast television, with the final game on CBS on Saturday afternoon. CBS paid approximately $500,000 for the broadcasting rights to the championship game. The end of CBS' coverage In 2003, the tournament was shifted entirely to cable on ESPN, which had begun covering all of the other games of the CWS since 1982 (and a partial schedule since 1980). The championship final became a best-of-three series between the two bracket winners, with games scheduled for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday evenings. In 2015, college baseball returned to CBS Sports in the form of a multi-year agreement between the American Athletic Conference and CBS Sports Network. Under the terms of the package, CBS Sports Network would air three Houston Baseball games in 2015, as well as the first two contests of the 2015 American Athletic Conference Baseball Championship. Carter Blackburn provided play-by-play for all seven games of the package, while analyst duties would be handled Darryl Hamilton and Ray King along with Brandon Tierney.
1980s Year Play-by-play Color commentator(s) 1988 Brent Musburger Rick Monday 1989 Brent Musburger Joe Morgan 1990s Year Play-by-play Color commentator(s) 1990 Greg Gumbel Jim Kaat 1991 Greg Gumbel Jim Kaat 1992 Greg Gumbel Jim Kaat 1993 Greg Gumbel Jim Kaat 1994 Greg Gumbel Jeff Torborg 1995 Sean McDonough Jeff Torborg 1996 Sean McDonough Steve Garvey 1997 Sean McDonough Fred Lynn 1998 Sean McDonough Fred Lynn 1999 Sean McDonough Joe Carter 2000s Year Play-by-play Color commentator(s) 2000 Greg Gumbel Jerry Kindall 2001 Greg Gumbel Ray Knight 2002 Greg Gumbel Rick Cerone