This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
March Madness, college basketball's biggest event, is upon us. But if your life is about scrambling, you're wondering if you will have the time to actually sit down and enjoy it.
Fortunately, if you're armed with a smartphone or tablet, you can catch hoops fever wherever you are, even if you're on the go. Here are some March Madness apps that can help keep you in the loop. All are free and available either for iOS or Android devices.
NCAA March Madness Live • CBS's official app is the go-to place for everything about the tournament, including live video of the games. Best of all, the app is free this year for the first time.
The app plays live streaming video via Wi-Fi, 3G and 4G networks of all 67 men's tournament games. Contests televised on TNT, TBS and TruTV, however, require a paid cable or satellite television subscription to view them on a mobile device (you'll need to know your login and password). CBS games can be viewed without a subscription.
Live radio broadcasts also are available through the app for all games. Video recaps are posted shortly after games are completed.
Additionally, the app has live brackets, live scoring updates and player statistics. There are push notifications for close games, overtime scores and more. Users can get involved in discussions about the tournament through integrated Twitter and Facebook postings.
CBS Sports • The network's all-around sports app also will be streaming live feeds of the games shown on CBS. It also will have schedules, stats and video recaps, as well as daily sports news. But it's also the app for all other sports covered by the network, and will stream such live events as the The Masters and NFL Draft Day.
ESPN Bracket Bound 2013 • With this app, you can create up to 10 brackets to compete with others. It also will have news and highlights from the day's games. Because ESPN is not contracted to broadcast the games (that belongs to CBS), there are no live streams.
Team Stream • The official app for the popular Bleacher Report sports news website allows users to track news of their favorite teams.
Not only do the site's own sports reporters provide original content, but the app also aggregates stories about specific teams from local newspapers, Twitter feeds, and blogs, and pushes them to your device.
Thuuz Sports • Most sports aren't really fun unless the score's tight and it's anybody's game. This app's main feature is alerting you when a game in any sport is close.
Users can follow their favorite teams and sports, and the app assigns an "exitement rating" to each game. The more exciting or close, the higher the rating. It also will tell you what network a game is on or how you can watch it live on your mobile device.
Sports Bar Finder • You want to watch the game, but you want to be around other rowdy fans, munching on chicken wings and beer. This app, by satellite television provider DirecTV, locates all nearby sports bars via GPS tracking that have DirecTV sports packages.
It lists not only sports bars but restaurants, and you can break it down by which sports each place broadcasts. You can also create a list of your favorite spots.
Google+: +Vincent Horiuchi