Windows Phone Central App Roundup: March Madness
There are plenty of Windows Phone apps out there to help us follow the world of sports (ESPN and ScoreMobile come to mind). In a few days, teams will be announced for the 2013 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, affectionately known as March Madness. Office pools will be created and tournament brackets will be filled out by the bazillions. People who haven't watched a single collegiate basketball game all season will call in sick to work so they can catch all the games. Madness may be an understatement.
With such an event just around the corner, this week's roundup will focus on March Madness apps. Windows Phone apps that will let you create your own bracket prediction, help you track tournament scores, and compete online to see how well your bracketology skills are.
MarchMadness ($1.99): MarchMadness lays everything out nicely and covers the latest news on the Tournament, scores for the current day, and a bracket to follow the teams as they work their way to the Final Four. The app covers not only the Men's Tournament but also the Women's Tournament.
MarchMadness also has predictions for the various bracket seeds before the official release on Sunday, March 17th. After which, MarchMadness will be updated with the official placements.
It's a nice app but the major downside to MarchMadness is that there isn't a trial version. The full version of MarchMadness is currently running $1.99 and you can find it here in the Windows Phone Store.
Tournament Madness (free): Tournament Madness taps into your Yahoo Tournament Pick'em account and lets you follow along with not only the tournament scores but also your progress in the fantasy game.
You'll need to have a Yahoo account and sign up for Tournament Pick'em here. When you first launch Tournament Madness, you'll need to log into your Yahoo Account and authorize Tournament Madness to access your Pick 'em account.
It's not the easiest of processes and at times you'll get a "Javascript required" error. Just back out of Tournament Madness and try again and the error should clear.
Once authorized, Tournament Madness will deliver up to the minute game scores, current standings for your brackets, how you stand in your group, and support for Second Chance Tournament Pick 'em.
Tournament Madness is a free app that you can find here in the Windows Phone Store.
Brackets 2013 (free): Brackets 2013 is more attuned to those who prefer to try their hands at bracketology without having to sign up with a large network. You simply tap your picks through the Tournament bracket and things update automatically.
If you're in the mood to see how well you can pick 'em, Brackets 2013 has the option to enter a friendly contest to see who has the best prediction skills. The winner will walk away with a $25 Amazon.com gift card.
You can enter the contest, email your brackets, pin an update tile to your Start Screen and view your results through the "three-dot" menu. If you are curious about the scores and stats of certain games, there is a control button at the bottom of the screen that will take you to ESPN's college basketball page.
Brackets 2013 is a fairly simple March Madness app for your Windows Phone if you don't need a lot of bells and whistles. It is a free, ad supported app and you can find Brackets 2013 here in the Windows Phone Store.
Mobile Madness (free): Mobile Madness is another Windows Phone to help you keep track of the bracket breakdown of the tournament. Mobile Madness won't let you create your own bracket but it has pages the will follow the full tournament bracket, live scores, and final scores.
Scores are updated periodically and as you launch the app. The hardwood backdrop is a nice touch and if you're just interested in keeping track of the tournament, Mobile Madness isn't a bad option.
Mobile Madness is a free, ad-supported app that you can find here in the Windows Phone Store.
Keep in mind that some of these apps won't be active or updated until after the official tournament brackets are released on Sunday March 17, 2013. March Madness is a sporting event that some believe is second to none. It is where a relatively unknown team can make a run at a major sports championship. As crazy as the regular season has been with men's collegiate basketball, this year's tournament should be full of surprises.
Of the bunch, I think Brackets 2013 looks the most interesting in that not only can you keep up with the tournament scores but you can also create your own bracket. Then again, if you're participating in Yahoo Sport's Tournament Pick 'em, Tournament Madness might be the app of choice.
If you have a favorite Windows Phone app to help you keep up with March Madness scores or brackets, feel free to speak up in the comments below.
