NETWORKS PAY COURT TO BASKETBALL FANS

Remember when there was a threat of losing all or most of the major sports on TV to those upstarts behind the cable television business? Better sign up for the service now was the threat, or you’ll miss out on your favorite sport.

Well, the commercial networks--and their loyal advertisers--weren’t about to toss in the football, baseball or, in particular, basketball. If anything, in recent years the networks have increased their coverage of all sports.

Take a look at the avalanche of basketball games on tap this weekend as the college season winds down and gears up for the NCAA Championships. On CBS and NBC today and Sunday there are 11 games being televised, more than enough to satisfied the most rabid fan.

Make it 13 if you add two pro games: Lakers and Suns tonight at 6:30 over Channels 9 and 51; Pistons vs. Celtics Sunday, 11 a.m. over Channels 2 and 8.

And if you are also plugged into cable service too, wow! Add six more telecasts this weekend, plus 11 more during the week (consult Television Times or daily listings for games).

Saturation and overkill are the terms you hear today. Feast or famine, it’s a great sport.

PERSONAL NOTE: After 37 years with the Times-Mirror Co. (the last 24 on The Times), this is my final TV sports column which, incidentally, I introduced in the early 1950s when I was on The Mirror and associated with a great gentleman, the late Hal Humphrey, who was the TV editor.

I am retiring from The Times and will now devote full time to writing a weekly, three-part television column for the Los Angeles Times Syndicate that I started in 1970.

A final thought: If there’s anything I’ve learned in 37 years as a newspaperman, it’s that a large vocabulary is necessary only if you don’t know what you’re talking about.

ROUNDUP: Today, Basketball, Notre Dame vs. Marquette, 11 a.m. (2)(8) . . . Basketball, UCLA vs. DePaul, noon (4)(36)(39) . . . Basketball, Illinois vs. Georgia, 1 p.m. (2)(8) . . . Golf, PGA Tournament, Coral Springs, Fla. 2 p.m. (4)(36)(39) . . . Skiing, Freestyle Championships, 2 p.m. (7)(10) . . . Basketball, Washington vs. Arizona State, 3 p.m. (4)(36) . . . Pro Bowlers Tour, 3 p.m., delayed, 3 p.m. (7)(3)(10)(42) . . . Basketball, USC vs. Stanford, 3 p.m. (51) . . . Wide World of Sports, boxing, 4:30 p.m. (7)(3)(42) . . . Basketball, Washington State vs. Arizona, 5 p.m. (2) . . . Hockey, Rangers vs. Washington, 5:30 p.m. WOR . . . Hockey, Montreal vs. Kings, 7:30 p.m. Prime Ticket.

SUNDAY: Basketball, Iowa vs. Indiana, 9 a.m. (2)(8) . . . Basketball, North Carolina vs. Duke, 10 a.m. (4)(36)(39) . . . Basketball, Midwestern Collegiate Tournament, 11 a.m. ESPN . . . Sports-World, Sports Fantasies, noon (4)(36)(39) . . . Golf, PGA finals, Coral Springs, 1 p.m. (4)(36)(39) . . . Sports Sunday, American Cup Gymnastics, 1:30 p.m. (2)(8) . . . Boxing, delayed, 2 p.m. (7)(3)(10) . . . Basketball, Cal vs. Oregon State, 3 p.m. (2)(51) . . . Wide World of Sports, 3 p.m. (7)(3)(10) . . . Swimming (men), UCLA vs. USC, 7 p.m. Prime Ticket.