The estimated reading time for this post is 6 minutes
If you’ve got basketball fever, the only prescription may be March Madness apps and books! That’s right, the time for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament is here to delight both fans of basketball and office pools. Be sure to make the best picks as you fill out your bracket and enjoy the games even more with apps and books.
NCAA March Madness Live
This app lets you watch all of the games live from your mobile device. You can also listen to live radio broadcasts of the games. Watch highlights of all 67 games.
You can fill out your bracket within the app and form groups to play against your friends. This app gives you player stats and can alert you to upsets, close games and when your favorite team is playing.
Note that last year this app let you watch all of the games live for a one time fee of $3.99. Bad news for those who cut their TV cable, this year watching all the games live requires a subscription to TNT, TBS and truTV, though watching the games shown on CBS is available for free using the app.
March Madness Live is currently unavailable.
CBS Sports
Watch live streaming games on this free app, complete with news, score updates and more CBS coverage. Get on-demand video of game highlights, analyses and original programs. Check scores and stats from all the games or highlight your favorite teams.
CBS Sports is free for:
- iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch in the iTunes App Store
- Android devices at Google Play
Simple Bracket
This Kickstarter project turned into reality earlier this month when backers fully funded the development of this app. If trying to see the NCAA bracket on your iPhone is a bit challenging, check out Simple Bracket that lays out the bracket in an easy to read format.
Here’s the Kickstarter video showing you how Simple Bracket works:
The app also makes it easy to form pools with your friends and even contains a sophisticated scoring system to calculate the probabilities of certain teams making it all the way to the end.
Note that a Twitter account is required to use the app.
Simple Bracket is no longer available.
Thuuz
Baskeball enthuuziasts will enjoy the Thuuz app, which assigns an excitement rating to the games. Not sure which game to watch? Let Thuuz help you decide! Thuuz will help you sort through the game schedule by excitement or by time. You can sign up for alerts that notify you when the excitement is peaking, without revealing any spoilers.
Just let Thuuz know who your favorite team is and how much excitement you want. Thuuz will do the rest.
Thuuz is available for free for:
- iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch in the iTunes App Store
- Android devices at Google Play
- Kindle Fire and other devices at the Amazon Appstore (Note that the Amazon app does not have the alert feature)
FanCake
You may not be on the basketball court in March, but FanCake will make you feel as if you’re part of the game. Pick your teams in the bracket and make predictions during the games. The winners will score prizes from FanCake, including t-shirts, basketballs and your favorite college team jersey.
FanCake is free for:
- iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch at the iTunes App Store
- Android devices at Google Play
PlayUp
PlayUp is your social network for sports. Hang out with your friends or with fellow fans on the app. Create private chat rooms to discuss the game or join in the public discussion. See the scores within the app.
PlayUp is free for:
- iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch in the iTunes App Store
- Android devices at Google Play
Watch ESPN
If the game you want to watch is on ESPN, then check out the Watch ESPN app. You can watch live streaming of NCAA basketball games as well as other sporting events. Get late-breaking news, scores and analysis from the app.
Note that you have to log in with your cable provider to access live streaming. Not all cable providers are supported.
Watch ESPN is free for:
- iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch in the iTunes App Store
- Android devices at Google Play
- Kindle Fire and other devices at the Amazon Appstore
College Basketball Scoreboard
If you’re into scores and stats, check out College Basketball Scoreboard. This app gives comprehensive scores, stats and analyses of the games.
College Basketball Scoreboard is available free for:
- iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch in the iTunes App Store
- Android devices at Google Play
- Kindle Fire and other devices at the Amazon Appstore
College Hoops Radio
This app plays radio broadcasts of basketball games for dozens of schools. If you can’t watch the games you can listen to the action.
College Hoops Radio is $0.99 for:
- iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch in the iTunes App Store
NCAA March Madness Basketball Trivia
Think you know your March Madness trivia? This fun app will test your knowledge of players, teams, coaches and stats. Play by yourself or ask a friend to help you answer the questions.
NCAA March Madness Basketball Trivia is $2.99 for:
- Android devices at Google Play (known there as College Basketball Trivia)
- Kindle Fire and other devices at the Amazon Appstore
March Madness Kindle books
Still can’t get enough basketball? Check out these Kindle books:
The Power of Negative Thinking: An Unconventional Approach to Achieving Positive Results, by Bob Knight and Bob Hammel for $5.99 or free to borrow for Amazon Prime member. Whether or not you’re a Bobby Knight fan, you may be fascinated to learn about his unusual attitude about winning, from the “second winningest coach in NCAA history.”
PERFECT: Bob Knight and Indiana’s 2-year quest. College basketball’s last unbeaten champion, by Bob Hammel for $3.82. If you need convincing about Bobby Knight’s qualifications to share his attitude about winning, check out this book that details the history of his success.
The Ultimate Book of March Madness: The Players, Games, and Cinderellas that Captivated a Nation, by Tom Hager for $14.99. This five star-rated book at Amazon will give you the history of March Madness and help prep you for the Basketball Trivia app!
Sum It Up: A Thousand and Ninety-Eight Victories, a Couple of Irrelevant Losses, and a Life in Perspective, by Pat Head Summitt and Sally Jenkins for $12.99. March Madness isn’t only about men’s basketball. Read this moving story about her struggle with Alzheimer’s by the coach of the Lady Vols, the 2012 Women’s NCAA Basketball Championship winner.
Dream Team: How Michael, Magic, Larry, Charles, and the Greatest Team of All Time Conquered the World and Changed the Game of Basketball Forever, by Jack McCallum for $14.99. This book isn’t about March Madness, but basketball fans will still appreciate reading the story of basketball’s ultimate Dream Team, the 1992 US Olympic Men’s Basketball Team.
Bottom Line
Whether you’re a basketball fan year ’round or only in March, check out these apps and books to enhance your enjoyment of the NCAA Basketball Tournament!
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Check out this highlight video from last year’s NCAA tournament to get you even more excited for the big games:
http://youtu.be/Mw-8MFg9WIg
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For more Wonder of Tech, check out my guest post at DadBlunders: How To Find Out Who Is Pinning Your Images On Pinterest.
If you’re a blogger, check out the article to find out who’s pinning images to Pinterest from your site. If you’re not a blogger, stop by anyway to check out Aaron Brinker’s fantastic blog on being a Stay at Home Dad (and on blogging).
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Carolyn – Nice list of apps and at the right time for the March madness.
I was using the Thuuz app for the NFL and i loved the features in that app, i used to get notifications whenever my fantasy team member ran a few yards or scored. It was just awesome to have all the information without having to get into a website and checking the same.
I havent been much into the NCAA, but let us see how it goes this year 🙂
Hi Praveen, I don’t watch much college basketball, until the NCAA tournament. I really enjoy the games then, the excitement is definitely contagious. I like the games even better when one of my schools is playing! 😉
Sounds like no more mundane march for me after reading this post. \m/
With these plethora of apps, I am destined to be busy all day long.
Thanks Carolyn for making my day, week and rest of the month :))
Hi Rashmi, Yes, these apps should certainly keep you busy! The first app, March Madness Live, alone could keep you very busy watching all of the Tournament games.
Enjoy the basketball, Rashmi! 🙂
Already lovin it!!!
Thanks for making my day or should I say days. 🙂
Happy to help!
I am finally back watching the NBA with one of my friends. It’s been probably more than 10 years since I watched my last basketball game, but watching the NBA brings it all back to me. I have never watched March Madness, but if I just get to watch a few more NBA games, I might be ready for it next year 🙂
Hi Jens, Yes, sometimes we forget the excitement of basketball until we get to see an exciting game again. NBA games are fun, but there’s something extra special about watching the college hoops of the NCAA basketball tournament in March. I hope you get a chance to enjoy the March Madness games this year, Jens!
Informative post! As a sports lover, being able to see the game in a live streaming is important. These applications sounds very interesting. And I would definitely love to try one of these. Thank you for this information. And I’m looking forward for more updates from you.
Hi Hotel Gault, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! I’m so glad you enjoyed finding out about these apps. I hope they help you enjoy the games even more!
Nice list of apps for March Madness Carolyn! The number of apps continues to grow each year, but I think NCAA live app probably offers the best experience if you had to choose a single one to download.
Hi Shaun, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! I’m glad you like these apps, Shaun. Yes, if you find one you like, you may not need others. But some people like a wide variety of apps with each one providing a different service.
Enjoy the games!
Hi Carolyn,
Been busy officially past ten days and couldn’t check couple of your posts 🙂
Nice app collection. The NCAA and simple bracket looks interesting and let me surely check, though I am not avid game watcher. Let me check the apps and see how it helps 🙂
Thanks for sharing the post.
Hi Vijay, I hope these apps have helped you enjoy the games more this year!
Being able to watch sports can be very useful for those who has a busy work schedule coinciding with the match timing. Watching the match on the tiny screen of phone can not be compared with the excitement of watching it live , but still at least they will be able to get some of the excitement and the constant updates on score.
Hi James, I agree completely. Watching live or on TV is better than watching on mobile. But watching the games on mobile is better than nothing!
All the apps are great but as a sports fan i love the Watch ESPN app going to give it a try….thanks for sharing it with us…
Hi Jawad, I hope you enjoyed the games and the apps!