It’s approximately 1:50 p.m. ET on Sunday afternoon, and CBS is just half an hour away from its first Elite Eight game of the day, featuring the No. 1 seed Houston Cougars against the No. 2 seed Tennessee Volunteers. However, for those tuned into the network’s pregame show, there wasn’t much discussion about the game. Instead, CBS spent 10 minutes showcasing Oz Pearlman, A.K.A. Oz the Mentalist. Sports fans have become all too familiar with Oz’s work over the years, as the man seems to be everywhere. In fact, this is the second time Oz has appeared on CBS coverage of the NCAA Tournament this year alone. Why is that? Pearlman lacks expertise in sports; he doesn’t break down game film or provide the half-baked hot takes that many studio analysts excel at. Oz the Mentalist performs the same trick he has been doing on these sports studio shows for years. While the trick is impressive, seeing the same exact performance repeatedly eventually leads to fatigue. Abbey Road is an amazing album, but even the biggest Beatles fan knows it’s not the only album worth listening to.
On Sunday, Oz pulled off another grand illusion alongside the CBS Sports March Madness crew, which includes Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Jay Wright, and Clark Kellogg, revealing his perfect (so far) Elite Eight “predictions” to their amazement.
.@OzTheMentalist predicted the Elite Eight back on March 20th 🤯
Oz’s Final Four:
Florida ✅
Duke ✅
Houston 👀
Auburn 👀 pic.twitter.com/tkkAnXgqfB— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 30, 2025
While he’s at least putting his reputation on the line by predicting outcomes of games that haven’t been played yet, Pearlman’s act is beginning to feel tiresome. This isn’t his fault; it’s simply a case of overexposure. He has performed on HBO’s Hard Knocks, ESPN’s College GameDay, NFL Countdown, Get Up, SportsCenter, Golf Channel’s Live From, NFL Network’s NFL GameDay Morning, among countless other sports programs. An Oz the Mentalist segment seems like lazy programming—admitting that your studio team can’t match the entertainment value of a magician. While that may hold true sometimes, isn’t part of the job making a compelling show? Do we really need to recycle the same gimmicks we’ve seen a million times before? No disrespect to Oz; he is undoubtedly a tremendous talent. However, sports fans don’t tune into a pregame show to watch Charles Barkley get his mind blown by a mentalist.
It might actually be beneficial if Houston or Auburn lose today. Perhaps Oz will finally lose some of his mystique, leading networks to reconsider shoving him down our throats.
