Starting this Thursday March 15th, the round of 64 of the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship begins, with the first 32 games being played on Thursday and Friday. That's a lot of basketball to keep track of. The tournament's format allows for the unexpected to happen, and every year the unexpected keeps happening. Some team no one has ever heard of will shock a basketball giant, and there's a good chance that the ultimate upset, a 16-seed beating a 1-seed might actually happen this year. So why be the only person who doesn't know that it happened until the highlights air on SportsCenter later? The only person on earth who can watch and keep track of all these games at once is Timothy Burke of Deadspin. This is his setup for capturing video and screenshots. However, with these four apps, anyone can keep track of the madness from anywhere to a lesser degree.
March Madness Live: Why not kick off this Favorite Four with
the app to follow the tournament? For a $3.99 in-app purchase, all the games of the tournament, even the Final Four and National Championship Game, can be watched via this universal app. Follow the big upset on the bus, or watch one game on the iPhone, another on the iPad, while yet another is on the TV. I can't and won't judge, because I'll probably be doing the exact same thing.
Slacker Radio: Can't watch the game for whatever reason? Well, then
Slacker Radio is here to the rescue, as the app will be streaming all the games of the tournament for free. Just check the NCAA Broadcasts section of the app for all the basketball goodness. I'm not saying that it's wise to be listening to a game while watching several others simultaneously, just that it's possible. Trying that may lead to a real case of March madness from basketball overload.
ESPN ScoreCenter: Stuck not being able to watch or listen to the game? Or perhaps just alerts of one's favorite team would suffice, because no one cares if South Dakota State can upset Baylor because they're gonna lose in the next round anyway? Well, this app provides live score updates and push notifications. I recommend this app for college basketball scores especially because ESPN employs the trillest college basketball analyst in the land,
Jay Bilas (pictured at left).
PlayUp: Want a second screen experience, but only want to track one game at a time? Well, then
PlayUp can help users keep track of not just scores of all the games, but to also chat with other fans watching the game. Talk trash, root with fellow fans, or pick up the cause of the underdog when they start to rally against a basketball behemoth. Just remember, that underdog may be the one that busts that carefully-planned bracket.
