As college basketball fans get ready for March Madness, AT&T and NCAA Men's Basketball are connecting fans with their favorite teams via mobile and giving them a chance to win free tickets to this year's championship game.

AT&T has launched the "AT&T Action on Your Phone" NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four Sweepstakes, a new text messaging promotion that runs through March 13. Fans with mobile service from AT&T can send their team's designated keyword to short code 72645 to join their school's mobile alert list and enter for a chance to win a trip for two to the 2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four.

"This promotion builds upon our successful text messaging program at 19 universities we sponsor," said Jenny Bridges, spokeswoman for AT&T, Dallas, TX. "Fans are encouraged to text in to join and receive text message alerts about their schools.

"With this promotion, we are encouraging more people to join the program while entering a promotion to win tickets to the NCAA Men's Final Four," she said. "We are targeting college basketball fans of all ages.

"College sports fans are passionate about their teams, and whether you're a student, alum or just a fan, young or old, AT&T wants to be your link to your school."

One winner will receive round-trip airfare, a four-night stay at hotel and two tickets to the games in Detroit.

In addition to their chance to win, fans who participate will receive weekly mobile alerts about their teams.

Participating schools (with keywords in parentheses) are the University of California at Berkeley (OSKI), Penn State University (PSU4), University of Connecticut (UConn4), Rutgers University (RU4), Georgia Tech (Jackets), University of Southern California (USCHoops), University of Kansas (Kansas) and Stanford University (Stanford).

The list also includes the University of Louisville (Ville), University of Texas (TX4), University of Miami (Miami), Texas Tech University (TTU4), University of Michigan (Michigan), University of Washington (UW4), Ohio State University (Bucks), University of Wisconsin (Badgers), University of Oklahoma (OU4), West Virginia University (DANCE) and University of Oregon (Duck4).

No purchase necessary, although standard messaging rates apply.

For details and the official rules of the sweepstakes, including an alternate method of entry, visit http://www.att.net/hoopsrules.

AT&T is the No. 2 carrier in the U.S. in terms of number of subscribers.

"There is no planned media buy behind this program," Ms. Bridges said. "We will rely heavily on the teams to promote it at basketball games, on team Web sites and Facebook sites, and live drops during radio broadcasts, as well as reaching out to current subscribers on the team-specific text alerts that AT&T does.

"We will also be promoting in AT&T stores," she said.