These are the best March Madness TV sales right now, starting at just $470

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A 75-inch Samsung TV for $850? Shut up and take my money! (Photo: Samsung)

It’s March… can you feel the madness? I’m referring, of course, to college basketball, which heats up this month and culminates in the big tournament. That makes this the perfect time to consider a new TV — a big TV, one that makes you feel like you’re courtside.

Indeed, when it comes to sports, the bigger the screen, the better. Last month I watched the Super Bowl on a 75-inch Hisense TV, and it was just dazzling to see at that size. Thinking you can’t afford anything that large? You might be surprised by some of the deals available right now.

For this roundup I looked only at 65-inch and larger models, because if we’re doing this, we’re doing this, right? Every TV below is notable for having a substantial discount (as of this writing; that’s subject to change), solid ratings or a combination of the two. I’ll start with the least-expensive ones first.

(Pro tip: Any new TV will benefit greatly from a sound bar. One great pick right now is the TCL Alto 6+, which includes a 31.5-inch wall-mountable bar and a wireless subwoofer. The TCL Alto 6+ is on sale at Amazon for $99, a savings of $31.)

Here's the Insignia F30 and its Fire TV interface. — Best Buy’s F30 Series puts 65 inches of Fire TV goodness in your living room for under $500. (Photo: Best Buy)

Insignia is Best Buy’s house brand, and it’s responsible for some notably good products at notably low prices. Case in point: The F30 Series TV, the only one in this roundup available for under $500. If you’re thinking that means limited features and mediocre picture quality, think again: It earned an impressive 4.6-star average rating from over 1,000 buyers.

The F30 runs Amazon’s Fire TV interface, which not only allows for all the popular streaming apps and some pretty neat games, but also affords hands-free Alexa. That means you can verbally tell the TV to turn itself on, search for Nicole Kidman movies, switch to Hulu and so on. (You can also tell it to do other smart-home things if you have other Alexa-compatible devices.)

It’s worth noting that, on occasion, this TV has been discounted a little further still — as low as $450 on occasion. So if you’re not in a hurry, you could wait and see if the sale gets better.

$470 ~~$570~~ at Best Buy

Ironically, this isn't what the Roku interface looks like on Walmart's Onn TV. (Photo: Walmart) — Ironically, this isn’t what the Roku interface looks like on Walmart’s Onn TV. (Photo: Walmart)

Already at steal at $579 (now $548), Walmart’s house-brand TV is undeniably a budget model — but a 70-inch budget model, one equipped with the enviable Roku interface. That means you don’t need to plug in anything extra to stream Netflix, Hulu and the like; those apps and countless others are at the ready.

The TV includes three HDMI inputs, so you can connect a cable box, game console and HDMI-ARC sound bar (or whatever mix of devices you prefer). Don’t expect the deepest black levels or most hyper-accurate colors; do expect giant basketball action at a price that won’t break the bank.

(Want to save even more? Sign up for a free 15-day Walmart+ trial, then take a quick three-question survey to add two more weeks for a solid 30 days of use. (And by the way, those without Walmart+ still get free shipping on orders of $35 or more.)

$548 ~~$579~~ at Walmart

It's not shown here, but the Hisense U6G uses the familiar Android operating system. — You may not know the Hisense brand, but it’s rapidly becoming a player in the budget-TV space. (Photo: Hisense)

Why would you choose a 65-inch TV for $600 when you could get a 70-inch model (Onn, above) for $548? Simple: Hisense’s U6G models employ quantum-dot technology, which promises dramatically improved color over traditional LCD TVs. You also get Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, which many movie theaters use for ultra-realistic images and sounds.

All that is to say the U6G is more advanced than the typical budget TV, while still maintaining a budget price. For those willing to accept the trade-off of a slightly smaller screen but higher-quality audio and video, the option is there.

Side note: I own the 75-inch U6G; it’s great, especially for sports. And when you buy this TV from Amazon, a current promotion (good through April 4) will net you a $100 digital gift card good for orders from places like Door Dash, Grubhub and Uber Eats.

(If you have Amazon Prime, you’ll get free shipping, of course. Not yet a member? No problem. You can sign up for your free 30-day Amazon Prime trial here.)

$600 ~~$630~~ at Amazon

Speaking of 75-inch TVs, here’s one for under $700 — a price that would have seemed impossible just a few years ago. Hisense’s R6 series features a built-in Roku interface and 120Hz refresh rate, the latter better for fast-paced sports (like football).

However, it’s hard to get a bead on whether this is the current (2020) model or a previous version. Walmart’s product page indicates support for both Alexa and Google Assistant voice commands; over at Hisense proper, Alexa is the only listed assistant. Walmart doesn’t mention Dolby Vision, either, a pretty notable spec, but the Hisense product page does.

Needless to say, one benefit to buying a TV from Walmart is relatively easy returns: If you don’t like it, just drive it back to the nearest store.

$698 ~~$998~~ at Walmart

Here's a look at the Tizen OS built into Samsung's TV. — A 75-inch Samsung TV for $850? Shut up and take my money! (Photo: Samsung)

A hefty discount — the largest since Black Friday — makes Samsung’s mammoth screen well worth your consideration. Oh, and don’t forget the 4.6-star average rating from over 2,200 Best Buy customers. That’s among the highest I’ve seen for any TV in this price range.

Although it’s a smart TV, the 7 Series relies on Samsung’s Tizen software, which is…fine. It gets the job done, streaming-wise, but you can always plug in something like an Amazon Fire TV Stick or Roku Ultra if you decide you don’t like the interface.

$850 ~~$1,100~~ at Best Buy

You don't even have to touch the remote to use Amazon's Fire TV Omni Series, which supports hands-free Alexa operation. (Photo: Amazon) — You don’t even have to touch the remote to use Amazon’s Fire TV Omni Series, which supports hands-free Alexa operation. (Photo: Amazon)

Amazon’s Omni Series TVs offer a few key advantages over nearly every other model here. First up: Built-in hands-free Alexa. Without so much as touching the remote, you can ask the TV to turn on and start streaming Ozark on Netflix. (You can also ask it to do other Alexa-y things, like tell you the weather or show you the doorbell camera feed.)

The Fire TV OS supports not only streaming apps, but various games and productivity tools as well — including Zoom. Just plug in a compatible webcam and you can enjoy big-screen video calls. Meanwhile, the TV itself offers Dolby Vision and Dolby Digital Plus.

And this actually beats the Black Friday price from last November, so you can rest assured you’re getting the best deal to date.

$750 ~~$1,100~~ at Amazon

It's hard to tell from photos just how large an 86-inch TV is. — If you’ve got the wall, LG’s got the 86-inch monster screen to fill it. (Photo: LG)

If you’ve got the space in your budget and your living room, consider splurging on this 85-inch behemoth. I mean, talk about home theater; a typical projector setup gives you a 100-inch screen, so you’re pretty darn close here — without all the typical projector hassles. The price is amazing, too.

The UP8770 is pretty packed with features, including Dolby Vision; support for Apple AirPlay 2 and HomeKit; your choice of Alexa or Google Assistant voice controls; and a settings-optimizer for game players. LG’s Magic Remote provides not only streaming shortcut buttons, but also a scroll wheel for easier menu navigation.

Honestly, the only real downside here is the space requirement: A TV this large will need a big piece of furniture to hold it or a big chunk of wall space (and serious mounting hardware). But, wow, the Super Bowl is going to look amazing.

$1,500 ~~$1,900~~ at Best Buy