March Madness Sets Standard for Online Sports

(NEWSER) - Despite a lack of surprises on the court, the first day of March Madness saw a huge jump in visits to the CBS website as well as a bump in TV ratings, the Business Insider reports. The 2.7 million viewers of streaming video online represented a 56% increase over last year, and each visitor watched about an hour of content. On the broadcast end, ratings rose 9% over 2008. More»

Or maybe the men's NCAA tournament field should include all 347 teams

(NEWSER) - The NCAA's interest in expanding the men's basketball tournament from 65 teams to 96 has met with almost universal scorn, but the bottom line will clearly dictate the path the all-American rite of spring takes. For some, even 96 teams isn't enough. "It's going to make putting a bracket together a little complicated," writes Jason Gay, but "why not go for it—invite every one of the current 347 NCAA Division I schools"? More»

(NEWSER) - Now Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington, and Danny Green can head to the NBA feeling good about their decision to return to school. The upperclassmen led North Carolina to its fifth national championship with an 89-72 blowout of Michigan State tonight in Detroit, reports the AP. "We've been working so hard since last year when we fell short," said Ellington, named most outstanding player. "I wanted to redeem myself. We worked so hard." More»

Popularity has sucked all the charm out of the tournament

(NEWSER) - In the '60s and '70s, the NCAA tournament was boring because UCLA seemingly always won. These days, "instead of UCLA winning it every year, there are now between five and nine UCLAs that can win it every year," Charles Pierce writes for Slate. "It's just as sterile and dynastic as it used to be." It’s oligarchy rather than monarchy, but it feels just as stale. More»

Site launches broadcasts with little fanfare

(NEWSER) - YouTube started streaming NCAA tournament games yesterday from CBS, joining several other sites, including ESPN, AOL, and Yahoo, CNET reports. But it seems strange, writes Greg Sandoval, that neither CBS nor YouTube has done much to promote the broadcasts there, given an audience recently estimated at more than 100 million. CBS has long supported YouTube, but it now has its own competing site, TV.com. More»