Only for Nantz, the sounds coming out of his hotel room during this weekend's Big Ten tournament were not from one of his favorite artists, Bruce Springsteen.

They were his own voice.

"I haven't done a college basketball game since last year's championship game," Nantz said. "It's been 11 months. I go through this every year, a long stretch of the NFL and West Coast golf. I'll have a DVD from last year's championship playing in the background in Indianapolis, getting an idea of what the energy will be like."

Nantz, generally considered the most versatile and talented play-by-play man in the industry, did not need much transition time before the Big Ten semifinals, which is a good thing, because he was not afforded the luxury.

"It's always during the first game, after the first commercial break, where you are like, `All right, this is how you ride a bike,'" Nantz said. "It doesn't take long."

It is that ability to change on the fly that has brought the 50-year-old New Canaan resident to the pinnacle of his profession. In May, Nantz will be honored as the 2009 National Sportscaster of the Year. It is the third straight year and fifth time overall he has earned the distinction.

After calling the Super Bowl last month, Nantz will be the voice of the Final Four next month and The Masters the following weekend.

No other broadcaster has ever done all three events.

Nantz will be doing it over the course of two months for the second time in three years.

"I don't take anything for granted," said Nantz, who will be working his 25th Final Four, the last 20 as the lead announcer. "How did I get so lucky? A lot has to fall into place."

Clark Kellogg, who will be serving as the lead analyst with Nantz for the second year, first worked with his partner in the studio nearly 20 years ago. Kellogg has been teamed with Verne Lundquist during the regular season, but he expects his reunion with Nantz to again be seamless.

"He's so good with his preparation and organizing his thoughts," Kellogg said. "It's off the charts. That's why he's a Hall-of-Famer. Obviously, this is what he's wanted to do and what he's gifted to do. You combine that with his work ethic and you can do extraordinary things with that microphone."

Nantz's first Final Four was in Dallas in 1986, when he hosted the studio show. It brings back a melting pot of emotions for Nantz, who was 26 at the time and just beginning his ascendancy in the field. His father, Jim Sr., had traveled from the family home in Houston and watched Nantz go through a three-hour rehearsal the day before the national semifinals.

"It was one of those moments where you look into your father's eyes and it's a different look, like you can't believe that's my son," Nantz said.

Sports were a direct link between Nantz and his father, who lost a long battle with Alzheimer's disease in 2008. That year, Nantz wrote a book, "Always By My Side," that climbed to No. 3 on the New York Times' bestseller list, about his relationship with his father.

Nantz recalled that during the weekend in Dallas, he was unaware he could get a ticket for his father, who drove home following that rehearsal and ended up watching his son's CBS Final Four debut on television.

"That's the only bad memory I have," Nantz said. "I don't have a lot of regrets, but that's one I'd like to have back."