Watching March Madness

College basketball has reached the end of the season, and now the playoffs begin. The 68-team tournament starts today, with so-called "play in" games.

This is the part of the season that even the casual fans will go crazy about. A lot of people watch the NCAA tournament. And, if you're a streamer, how do you watch it?

The games are being broadcast on several networks during the next few weeks:

• CBS
• TBS
• TNT
• truTV

Here is how to watch the channels if you are a streamer:

CBS

• Antenna (free)
• Paramount Plus (Premium) ($12/month)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($77/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($80/month)
• DirecTV (Entertainment) ($85/month)

TBS

• Max (with Ads) ($10/month)
• Max (Ad free) ($16/month)
• Sling TV (Blue) ($40/month)
• Sling TV (Orange) ($40/month)
• Sling TV (Orange+Blue) ($55/month)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($77/month)
• DirecTV (Entertainment) ($85/month)

TNT

• Max (with Ads) ($10/month)
• Max (Ad free) ($16/month)
• Sling TV (Blue) ($40/month)
• Sling TV (Orange) ($40/month)
• Sling TV (Orange+Blue) ($55/month)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($77/month)
• DirecTV (Entertainment) ($85/month)

truTV

• Max (with Ads) ($10/month)
• Max (Ad free) ($16/month)
• Sling TV (Blue) ($40/month)
• Sling TV (Orange) ($40/month)
• Sling TV (Orange+Blue) ($55/month)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($77/month)
• DirecTV (Entertainment) ($85/month)

The cheapest way to watch all the games is to combine subscriptions of Paramount Plus and Max, which will run $22/month.

Oh, there is a March Madness Live app from the NCAA, but it authenticates against one of the services listed above. The app by itself doesn't get you the content, much like the ESPN app doesn't get you college football unless you authenticate against your ESPN provider. And even with the March Madness Live app, you still don't get the games on CBS.

The play in games start today on truTV, and continue throughout the month, and into April, with the Final Four on TBS. My Streaming Life doesn't involve much basketball at all. But a lot of people enjoy this. If this describes you, then you have ways to watch the games.