Catch All The Tournament Action

Today marks the start of the full 64-team NCAA tournament field.  (The tournament actually started with four play-in games Tuesday and Wednesday.)  It's called March Madness for a reason:  you never know what is going to happen (except a 16-seed beating a 1-seed; that has never happened!)  Not long ago, all NCAA tournament games were on broadcast TV, and your local network chose which games you would be able to see.  Now, under its most recent deal, games are shown across four networks, and if you get all four networks, then you can watch any game you want.  Unfortunately, it stinks if the team you want to watch is on a channel you don't get, but don't give up just yet!  You still have some options:

1) Over the Air - CBS has broadcast rights to much of the tournament, including the championship. If you are within range of a CBS station, connecting an antenna will allow you to watch some of the games. Unfortunately, TNT, TBS, and TruTV share the rest of the tournament games, so you will need a cable subscription to see action on those networks.

2) Online - For the past several years, the NCAA has streamed all tournament action through its March Madness Live site.  While this is free, it is not a better option than catching the CBS games over the air because only the CBS games can be seen without a cable subscription that includes the other three channels.  You can watch a complimentary preview of any game, but you will eventually be prompted to enter your log-in information.

There are also March Madness apps available for iOS, Android, and Windows devices, but they come with the same viewing restrictions.  While these apps are not a solution for a cord cutter, they are a convenient way to watch the tournament on the go.

3) Sling TV - Using Dish TV's new streaming service, Sling TV, you can also watch games available on TBS and TNT.  Combined with CBS, this gives you access to three of the four stations broadcasting the tournament.  Sling TV costs $20/month, but it does offer a seven day free trial.  You can even use Sling TV's apps for Roku and Amazon to watch it on your TV.  (Dish was offering a free Roku or Amazon stick with the purchase of a three-month subscription, but I cannot find it on their site anymore, so I think the offer may be gone.)

4) Catch the Highlights - If you aren't willing to spend the money on a subscription to see all the games or you just want to keep up with the latest action so you can communicate with your co-workers over the next three weeks, you can catch the highlights on the March Madness YouTube channel.

5) The Ladies Have a Tournament, Too - ESPN has full broadcasting rights to the Women's basketball tournament, which begins on Friday and will end the day after the men's championship.  During the opening rounds, games of interest will be available on the ESPN networks, but you can watch all the games through the WatchESPN site or app.  (Your internet provider must support it, and games on ESPN networks require a subscription that includes that channel.)