Ryan Ruocco, Rebecca Lobo, and Holly Rowe are preparing to call the 2026 NCAA Women’s Final Four on Friday night, and the ESPN trio couldn’t be more in sync.
Except when the sidewalk is a little uneven, then it’s every broadcaster for themselves.
ESPN’s top women’s basketball crew stopped by 06010: The ESPN Communications Podcast this week to discuss their big weekend, but an injury suffered by Lobo almost derailed everything.
“I’m gonna be literally leaning on them the next couple of days after my tumble this morning,” said Lobo before Rowe did an injury report on her status. Ruocco then admitted that her ankle sprain, which she suffered this past week, was partially his fault as he distracted her while they were walking in downtown Phoenix.
That incident aside, the trio’s success can be summed up by how in sync they are with one another after so many years of working together.
“What I love is not only do I work with two partners here who have zero weaknesses or blind spots or anything that anyone has to account for, but they’re so good at what they do, and they have such a holistic picture of the broadcast always,” said Ruocco. “That they are constantly making my job easier for just my own individual tasks, right? They are always aware of not only their own responsibilities but mine as well. And what could be useful to mine, and how does that manifest?
“Rebecca is unbelievably conscious and deferential in certain moments where she feels like, hey, this has got to be kind of Ryan’s time to set the stage or punctuate a call or lay out or whatever it is. She’s always thinking holistically like that and being sometimes unnecessarily generous to me. But that’s just how thoughtful she is as a teammate.
“Holly is constantly, during a game, telling me and Rebecca, ‘Hey, you know, here’s a storyline we haven’t hit yet. Hey, have you guys seen this stat? Hey, this is a story I know I was going to tell it. I’m not sure I’m going to get it in. It’s more important that it gets in. You guys tell it,’ you know. And so there’s just like this really selfless nature towards the show and the broadcast. We all benefit from that. And it comes from Rebecca and Holly’s attitude and also their more global awareness of what makes great TV and what serves the audience.
“I think that one thing that is a common denominator with all of us is we truly do the game thinking about how can we best serve the audience? What is actually going to make for the best telecast for the women on the floor and then for the audience? And I think because we have that kind of shared aligned purpose, it makes everything easier.”
Friday’s Final Four will be the sixth for Ruocco, Lobo, and Rowe together. The action begins on ESPN on Friday at 7 p.m. ET, when No. 1 South Carolina and No. 1 UConn go head-to-head, followed by No. 1 Texas vs. No. 1 UCLA, around 9:30 p.m.
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.