The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship, commonly known as March Madness, has the effect of drawing many sports fan into the competition on an obsessive level. Sports bars across the country are crammed nightly with college basketball fans, exchanging high-fives, anguished cries and more than a little trivia. With Apple's App Store, you can now take your obsession to a whole new level-here's a list of apps that will put you right in the middle of the madness.
CBS Sports March Madness on Demand ($9.99)
Take the games with you wherever you go by downloading this app, which allows you to watch March Madness games over the phone's 3G or WiFi connection. Also included is a real-time tournament bracket, game previews and up to the minute scores and headlines. If you don't want to miss a moment of the action, this is the app for you.
ESPN Tournament Challenge (Free)
Test your skills with the sports network's bracket game, where points are awarded for each correct pick, with point values increasing as the tournament progresses. The app lets you create or join a private group to compete against friends and family, or join a public group to compete with fans across the country.
College Basketball Live! (Free)
This free app provides you with the latest scores, schedules, standings, news and blogs from the NCAA league, and includes a feature that allows you to cheer (or jeer) friends and their teams. The app makes it easy to follow your favorite teams by selecting the colleges you want to follow for quick access to scores and standings.
March Madness Mania ($1.99)
Another app to keep you informed on all the events happening during the season of madness, including Tweets from head coaches, analysis from coaching greats like Dick Vitale, as well as highlight clips and feature videos on YouTube. The app also allows you to connect with friends and share your pain and passion via Facebook and Twitter.
Official Big East Basketball Championship ($1.99)
Stay informed of all the action happening in the men's and women's Big East basketball championship with this app, which brings you live stats, audio, news, schedules, results and video clips. Sponsored by Verizon Wireless, this slick-looking app has what Big East fans need to follow their favorite teams, and the latest update includes live audio.
Qwik NCAA Basketball News ($0.99)
This app gives you access to tournament news from a variety of news organizations, including NBC Sports, Fox Sports, NCAA.com, ESPN and Sports Illustrated, allowing you to consolidate all your information in one place. It supports full screen landscape mode for easier reading and a quick shake of your iPhone or iPod touch brings you back to the main page. Live photos, video and podcasts are also accessible.
College Basketball Mascot Challenge (Expert Edition) ($0.99)
Test your knowledge of college basketball mascots, schools and conferences with this app, which the developer brags is tailor made for people who "know their stuff" when it comes to college basketball. Included are more than 1,000 questions about various aspects of college basketball.
Hooplytics ($2.99)
This app simulates all games between any two of the 347 Division One teams from the 2009-2010 season, with over 5,000 statistical player profiles. A Simulation Cycle is 1,000 games and takes about 40 seconds on an iPhone 3GS, the app's developer claims. Team lineups, player minute distribution and expected game pace can be edited to account for injuries or other personnel changes.
