When the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament tips off March 16, it will mark the first of 64 games that will be played in 13 U.S. cities over 21 days. College basketball players won’t be the only ones competing, as some 37 million Americans will enter office pools this year with hopes of becoming the resident bracket expert in the workplace. No wonder it’s called “March Madness.”
Keeping up with a tournament of this size is no small task, especially when a great deal of the early action happens weekdays between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. In order to keep up with the Cinderella stories, close calls and buzzer beaters leading up to the “Big Dance,” U.S. Cellular offers these tips to help hoop fans manage the madness using their mobile phones:
What’s the score? – NCAA Tournament Alerts allow you to keep up with all the tournament action. Individuals can go to www.4info.com to sign up and follow your favorite teams at the tourney. The service provides live scoring updates via text and post-game audio coverage to your mobile phone. You also can get live NCAA Tournament scores on your phone by using mobile search. Simply send a text with the word TOURNEY to 44636 and get scores back immediately.
Portable playmakers – U.S. Cellular customers can watch games live with the easyedge application MobiTV. If you can’t tune in to the games on your phone, Fox Sports Ultimate, another Easyedge application, can keep you in the loop on college hoops by providing the latest scores, play-by-play updates and instantly refreshed, real time statistics.
Show your spirit – Let people know where your allegiance lies in March by downloading your favorite school’s fight song and setting it as your ringtone during the tournament.
Bracket banter – Texting fellow tournament pool participants is a quick and easy way to let your family, friends and coworkers know about your bracket magic. For example, when your No. 12 seed defeats a No. 5, celebrate that bracket victory by texting a friend.
