College sports are a very big deal in the United States of America. Although the country has some of the most highly developed professional circuits, there is nothing like watching two university programs going off against each other. Courts are often filled with enthusiastic fans, and they cheer, sing, and demonstrate their passion towards their team.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association, or NCAA by its initials, is the regulatory entity of college sports, having more than 1,200 registered institutions under its realm. Among its tasks, the NCAA has to organize yearly tournaments in several disciplines and sports in the United States and Canada, fostering the right environment for over 48,000 students to showcase their talents in front of national TV audiences.
Lose your mind with the March Madness!
However, most of the NCAA’s fame and fortune is because of the basketball program. The March Madness is the unofficial name of the Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament, a bracket-based system that year in and year out offers the nation some of the fiercest rivalries in America.
The March Madness is where future NBA stars are born and bred. College basketball is the player’s window to impress national audiences (naturally, the competition has high TV interest) as well as NBA scouts looking to build their rosters with fresh blood.
The NCAA basketball format has been active since 2011. It lets 68 teams dispute the glory, starting with the “First Four” phase in which four teams will join the best 60 basketball programs in the country, divided by geographical region.
The first round of the NCAA championship has 64 teams: each one will play elimination games up until they arrive at the Final Four. Before that, the “Sweet Sixteen” (when there are 16 teams left) and the “Elite Eight” (the last eight programs) occur.
2018 saw Villanova take home the honors in a thrilling battle against Michigan, 79-62. However, next year the tournament is shaping up to be as exciting as ever, and people from all over the world will be able to watch the best games.
The list of winners
School Titles Years
UCLA 11 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1995
Kentucky 8 1948, 1949, 1951, 1958, 1978, 1996, 1998, 2012
North Carolina 6 1957, 1982, 1993, 2005, 2009, 2017
Duke 5 1991, 1992, 2001, 2010, 2015
Indiana 5 1940, 1953, 1976, 1981, 1987
Connecticut 4 1999, 2004, 2011, 2014
Kansas 3 1952, 1988, 2008
Villanova 3 1985, 2016, 2018
Cincinnati 2 1961, 1962
Florida 2 2006, 2007
Louisville* 2 1980, 1986
Michigan State 2 1979, 2000
NC State 2 1974, 1983
Oklahoma St. 2 1945, 1946
San Francisco 2 1955, 1956
Arizona 1 1997
Arkansas 1 1994
California 1 1959
CCNY 1 1950
Georgetown 1 1984
Holy Cross 1 1947
La Salle 1 1954
Loyola-Chicago 1 1963
Marquette 1 1977
Maryland 1 2002
Michigan 1 1989
Ohio State 1 1960
Oregon 1 1939
UNLV 1 1990
Stanford 1 1942
Syracuse 1 2003
UTEP 1 1966
Utah 1 1944
Wisconsin 1 1941
Wyoming 1 1943
Broadcasting Rights Holders
America is full of networks and channels with a strong interest in sporting events. And the March Madness is, year after year, one of the most viewed events in the country, so the competition for the right to broadcast the games is huge.
In the past, networks ESPN and CBS shared the “pie,” but nowadays, other channels are involved, too. CBS, TNT, TruTV, and TBS air live games, while the CBS Sports Network shows re-airs. Galavision covers the event in Spanish.
These are all American networks, though, so people living outside the United States won’t be able to watch the games because of licensing and geo-blocking reasons. However, there is hope for you.
VPN: The Perfect Tool to Watch NCAA Streaming Live from Abroad
If you want to enjoy the NCAA tournament from outside the United States, you need to acquire an American IP address. The channels and online streaming signals broadcasting the games have an IP recognition system that grants access to US-based IP numbers and rejects connections request for others.
Virtual Private Networks are online encryption tools that hide your actual IP address and lend you a temporary one that you will select from a list of nations and servers. To watch the NCAA tournament, all you have to do is hire the services of a reliable VPN provider with servers in America.
VPN apps reroute all your shared content online, as well as your IP address, to remote servers, where they will be safely kept away from hackers, governmental agencies, online advertisers, Internet Service Providers, and sites and networks that would recognize your location by knowing your IP number.
IPBurger is one of the most reliable VPNs to unblock content in the United States of America. It has shared and dedicated IP addresses, so you can choose the most convenient one to enjoy the NCAA tournament live.
In conclusion, the March Madness is one of America’s most viewed sporting events, and you can watch NCAA streaming live from anywhere if you use a reliable VPN with proper encryption and privacy protection, like IPBurger VPN.