The main challenge of being a college sports fan is keeping up to speed with it all. NCAA Division I men’s basketball alone consists of more than 350 schools vying for the crown, to say nothing of the more than 40 other men’s and women’s sports sponsored by the association (what, you’re not all caught up on your collegiate fencing standings?)

But a completely redesigned app, released by NCAA.com and Turner Sports last week, should make that pursuit a lot easier. Released just in time for the ramp-up to March Madness, the Buick-presented NCAA Sports app wisely focuses on the elements that cut through the college clutter: championships. While the app will not of course provide live streaming coverage of the upcoming 64-team basketball tournament itself (for that, you’ll have to hit up the forthcoming March Madness Live app), it will offer live scores and schedules, highlights and other streaming video content, and scoring alerts for your favorite schools.

The real value of the NCAA Sports app doesn’t seem to be its March Madness coverage, or likely college football either, once that season gets going. Both those big-ticket sports are well-covered by plenty of other outlets, digital and otherwise. No, the app’s most intriguing elements involve the lower-profile sports, as pay TV subscribers who use it will have the ability to live-stream exclusive coverage of more than 65 other NCAA championships, including skiing, hockey, wrestling, rowing and more. A team hub feature aggregates real-time news, scores and social media feeds for each school, and users can choose up to three schools as their “favorites,” placing their respective content at the top of the pile.

The timing of the app’s release seems doubly-smart, as many obscure sports are fresh in fans’ minds on the heels of the Olympics. Many of the athletes at this year’s Games emerged from college sports, as is often the case, and now viewers have the chance to easily see them in that arena as well. While college sports such as rifle, cross-country and lacrosse may never enjoy popularity on par with March Madness, this revamped mobile experience could usher them into a new era of popularity.

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