Today is the first day of play-in games for March Madness, and if you aren’t in front of your TV then you might miss some of the action.
You can watch all the games online or on a smartphone or tablet, but the NCAA is charging $3.99 for that service this year (which has been free in years past). If only your favorite personal finance blogger knew of a way to get the streaming service without paying the 4 bucks…
Free March Madness Online and Smartphone Streaming
If you’re cheap like me (which I assume you are), you probably don’t want to pay $4 to watch the games. Here’s how to avoid the fee.
You will get a text back that gives you a code. All you have to do is go to NCAA.com/cokezero and input your code, and you’re in for the whole tournament.
There are 67 March Madness games, and you can get every single one of them on the internet and/or on your smartphone/tablet with this service. One code gets you access for all supported devices.
Not All Smartphones/Tablets are Compatible
If you use Apple products then you’re all set. If you use Android products, you might be alright. If you use any other smartphone or tablet, you’re out of luck.
I have a T-Mobile G2 smartphone, and the app works great on that. I also have an ASUS Transformer Prime tablet, and the app is not supported on this platform. If you follow this link and login to your Google account, you should get able to see if your device is compatible with the app.
It Only Works For Mizzou Fans
If you don’t cheer for the Missouri Tigers, this service might not work. If you cheer against the Missouri Tigers, this service definitely won’t work. If you cheer for the Kansas Jayhawks, this app costs $3,900. None of this is true, but I wish it was.
Readers: Who are you rooting for in the NCAA tournament this year?
photo credit: RealClearSports
Kevin McKee is an entrepreneur, IT guru, and personal finance leader. In addition to his writing, Kevin is the head of IT at Buildingstars, Co-Founder of Padmission, and organizer of Laravel STL. He is also the creator of www.contributetoopensource.com. When he’s not working, Kevin enjoys podcasting about movies and spending time with his wife and four children.
Thanks Kevin, you just saved me $4!
I’ll be cheering for Purdue, but I think are chances are better on the women’s side.
I think Matt Painter is a good coach, although I’m still a little mad at him for not wanting to coach Mizzou. I feel like he played us to get more money from you guys. However, I’m happy with the coach we have now and I’m hoping he takes us to our first Final Four.
At least since Purdue is on the other side of the bracket, I can say good luck to you!
bullshit dont work
I am a die-hard Kentucky fan, so am thrilled with their season so far. Yes, even the loss of the conference title. That just means they will regroup and work harder.
However, I am also a WKU fan. Western Kentucky University hilltoppers have had a rough season with the firing of the head coach mid-stream. Coach Harper has done a wonderful job and ended this season on a high note. Will definitely be cheering on WKU tonight as they are the first game of the tournament. Having said that, if they win, they will then play UK on Thursday. Major bummer.
I would also like to mention that four Kentucky teams are in the tournament! How awesome is that? Murray State, University of Loserville, UK and WKU.
The Hoff is also a die-hard Kentucky fan. I’m hoping for a Mizzou/KU matchup in the Final Four (although if Mizzou makes it to the Final Four I’d love to play Baylor since we’ve already beaten them 3 times this year).
Grew up in CoMo of course Mizzou’s gonna win, though as I live in the north, I would not mind Wisconsin doing well too.
It’s always nice when the home team does well. Even if you don’t root for them yourself, it’s nice to be able to experience the excitement around town. I live in Texas right now, and I don’t think UT is going to go anywhere, so I just have to rely on my Tigers!
Thanks for the tip Kevin. Huge Marquette fan here and would love another shot at Mizzou since you guys took us down in the tourney a few years back.
I’ve seen a lot of people picking Marquette over Mizzou. I sure hope it doesn’t happen! I don’t watch any regular season college basketball outside of Mizzou games, so I honestly have no idea how good you guys are. I hope you’re overrated. 😉
Hey Kevin, I moved to the UK to do a Masters and can’t get access to the coke zero offer (international SMSs are not available…). Is there any way for someone to share their log in details with me? Going nuts over here with the time difference and the fact that the brits don’t watch basketball…!!!!
THIS REALLY WORKED. WOW AND THANKS
Are there other teams playing besides Syracuse….hahaha…CUSE NATION!!!!!!