The NCAA is planning keeping college basketball fans entertained and engaged in the days leading up to March Madness 2013 in Atlanta with a variety of offerings that are part of the 75 Years of March Madness Celebration.
The channel launch is a part of the 75 Years of March Madness celebration. This is a complete digital archive and moment-level metadata (players, teams, years, match-ups, and moments), the NCAA was able to quickly leverage these assets and create a YouTube Channel to let fans re-live their favorite tournament moments. This is not only for the casual fan, but for fans of teams that have had memorable moments during the 75 years of March Madness.
Assisting the NCAA is putting this YouTube Channel out is T3Media Inc.
"We really view this as an opportunity to celebrate and remember all the incredible moments, players, coaches, and teams that have made March madness so popular," NCAA's vice president of men's basketball championships Dan Gavitt told me in an interview. "We started way back in September announcing some of the initiatives we'd be undertaking."
Gavitt says this is really a season-long celebration.
"We've honored players all season long at campus sites, and back in November we had a panel of writers and NCAA staff choose the 75 greatest players ever to play in the NCAA Tournament."
That has now led into an opening voting at ncaa.com/marchmadness where fans can go and vote for their all-time great players, teams, and March Madness moments. The top-15 players and top team will all be recognized at the Final Four in Atlanta.
The NCAA is big on giving fans different ways to take in this exclusive content and they feel they now have an opportunity to engage fans of all ages.
A quick side note for true NCAA Basketball fans, Gavitt told me that for the first time ever the Division II and Division III championship games will be held in Atlanta at Philips Arena on the Sunday afternoon before the Monday Division I Championship Game.
All three championships in one city on one weekend, and these will be free events, with the Division III game at 12:30 on April 7 and the Division II at 4 p.m.
Much more is planned for this celebration in Atlanta, stay tuned.
Head on over to the YouTube Channel and get prepared for March Madness.
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