Retired ESPN Icon Brent Musburger Will Return For Network's 24-Hour March Madness Coverage

ESPN play-by-play icon Brent Musburger has been retired for just more than one month, but he will be returning to the ESPN airwaves Monday to discuss the passion that keeps him busy during retirement. Musburger will be rejoining ESPN's Tournament Challenge Marathon, 24 hours of NCAA tournament coverage dedicated to helping you craft the perfect bracket, the sports media powerhouse announced Monday.

Musburger will appear on ESPN's live set in Las Vegas to "offer his Vegas betting insight," the company says. The set will sit on a rooftop location from the Beer Park at Paris Las Vegas Hotel & Casino.

The former ESPN mainstay will be joined in Vegas by another icon of the network, Dick Vitale, as well as Adam Amin, Sean Farnham, "Stanford Steve" Coughlin and Kenny Mayne.

“Fans unwavering support of their teams during the NCAA Tournament and picking a winning bracket has become a staple in every home and office, so we think there is no better way to begin the madness than with 24-straight hours of bracket-building coverage on ESPN platforms,” Norby Williamson, ESPN's executive vice president of production, said in a statement.

Since leaving the worldwide leader in January, Musburger has begun hosting a show on the SiriusXM channel Vegas Stats and Information Network entitled "My Guys in the Desert."

Before his departure, Musburger had been on the call for some of the biggest sports moments in the past 50 years. His career has included coverage of the Super Bowl, tennis U.S. Open, Final Four, college football's national championship, Masters, World Cup and Belmont Stakes. Most recently, Musburger called college football and basketball for ESPN and ABC.

Musburger was known as much for his booming voice as his propensity to slip in references to betting lines and late covers, even when such commentary was considered taboo.

Overall, Musburger will play a small role in ESPN's 24-hour Tournament Challenge Marathon. The marathon will consist of Tournament Challenge-themed edition of ESPN's flagship programming, as well as special guests and celebrities. Shows will be broadcast from the network studios in Bristol, Conneticut, as well as the Las Vegas set and a third set in Las Vegas.

The coverage features non-stop college basketball news and analysis which will begin on the evening of Monday, March 13. The coverage will continue until the evening of Tuesday, March 14.

Marc Torrence, Patch Staff contributed to this report

Image via ESPN