Is March Madness on Sling TV?

There’s something about springtime. We’re moving out of winter and slowly making our way to summer. And depending on where you live, you’ll get that perfect mix of hot and cold, if you’re lucky. But everyone — and we do mean everyone — will find themselves touched in some way by March Madness. That is, the massive college basketball tournament that hits this time every year. Sixty-four (plus) teams. Multiple rounds. One loss, and you’re done.

And one more thing that’s consistent for all of us — you can watch March Madness on Sling TV. Maybe not all of it, but much of it. (Welcome to the confusing world of Sling TV, folks.)

Here’s the deal: The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament (aka March Madness) is available on a number of channels. This year that includes truTV, TNT, TBS, and CBS. That’s good and bad. It’s a mixed bag, really.

First, some context. Sling TV is split into two main tracks, each with its own channels. (But with some overlap.). Sling Orange and Sling Blue. You can get one, or you can get both for not much more money. Each track has its own slate of optional add-ons called Sling Extras.

Let’s start with the easy bits. TBS and TNT are available on Sling Orange and Sling Blue. That’s good. You’ll get a lot of basketball that way.

TruTV is a little more difficult. It’s normally available only as part of Sling Blue. But as a special treat for March Madness, it’s available on Sling Orange through March 24. So you’ll get a few days of truTV with just a single track, but that’s it.

CBS is the bigger issue. While Sling does have some local channels available to stream in some markets, it’s definitely more limited than its competitors.

There’s one way around that, though, and that’s with an over-the-air antenna, which you’ll find that Sling TV pushes fairly heavily. And Sling has its own branded over-the-air tuner called AirTV. You’ll snag one of those, hook up your antenna, and scan for channels. Once that’s done, you’ll be able to see whatever local broadcasts are in your area right inside the same Sling TV guide as everything you’re streaming. So it’s a little more setup (and an extra one-time expense), but certainly not unworkable. And if you’re dead-set on watching March Madness on Sling TV, it’s what you’ll need to do.

Once that’s done, you’ll be able to watch every minute of every game of March Madness, from the initial play-in games to the Final Four and the National Championship game on Monday, April 8. Those final five games are all available on TBS.

Game on.