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Cheer for your favorite NCAA team and Xfinity will respond with matching lights

Simon Cohen
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Screaming and hollering at your TV during a March Madness game (or any game, really) is standard behavior for true fans. And while it might feel good to express yourself at critical moments, wouldn’t it feel even better if something actually happened as a result of all that enthusiasm? That is the idea behind Comcast’s new Xfinity March Madness voice commands: Holler at your team and even if the players can’t hear you, your smart home lighting will acknowledge your energy by bathing your media room in your team’s colors.

You can use the interactive feature right now, but you need a few things to make it work. First, you’ll need an Xfinity TV service with an X1 set-top box, and a matching X1 voice remote. You’ll also need to be subscribed to either Comcast’s Xfinity Home, or xFi internet services. Lastly, you need at least one Philips Hue, or LIFX color-capable lightbulb (despite the fact the image above shows a Philips Hue White), though obviously the more of these you have, the better.

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After pairing your smart lightbulbs with your X1 system via the Xfinity xFi, or Xfinity Home app, you’re ready to go. When it’s time to cheer, grab your X1 voice remote, mash the mic button and let loose with, “Xfinity Home, go (your favorite team’s name)!” For example, say, “Xfinity Home, go Villanova,” and your connected lightbulbs will turn blue and cyan. If you say, “Xfinity Home, go Iowa State,” the lights will turn red and gold. Not all teams have two colors — Houston, for instance, is only red — but every team is represented. The Comcast team has pre-programmed all 68 NCAA teams into the system, so no matter who you’re cheering for, your smart lighting can respond.

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It’s not the first time Xfinity has let customers activate their smart lighting through the X1 voice remote. In the past, you’ve been able to say, “Xfinity Home, make lights blue,” but this marks the first time you can do so just by saying the name of a team.

It’s also not the only NCAA-related set of voice commands. You can also say:

  • “College basketball bracket” to access a full-screen takeover of regional or full tournament standings.
  • “College basketball” to go to the tournament destination in the X1 Sports Guide.
  • “Minnesota Golden Gophers versus Louisville Cardinals” (or any other relevant matchup) for game summaries or how teams facing off stack up against one another.

Here’s the full list of team names, along with their corresponding colors:

Team Color 1 Color 2
Abilene Christian purple
Arizona State maroon gold
Auburn blue orange
Baylor green gold
Belmont blue red
Bradley red
Buffalo blue
Cincinnati red
Colgate maroon
Duke blue
Fairleigh D’son blue red
Florida blue orange
Florida State maroon gold
Gardner-Webb red
Georgia State blue red
Gonzaga blue red
Houston red
Iona maroon gold
Iowa gold
Iowa State red gold
Kansas blue crimson
Kansas State purple
Kentucky blue
Liberty red blue
Louisville red yellow
LSU purple gold
Marquette blue gold
Maryland red gold
Michigan blue gold
Michigan State green
Minnesota maroon gold
Mississippi scarlet
Mississippi State maroon
Montana maroon
Murray State gold blue
NC Central maroon
Nevada blue
New Mexico State crimson
North Carolina light blue blue
North Dakota State green yellow
Northeastern red
Northern Kentucky gold
Ohio State scarlet
Oklahoma crimson
Old Dominion blue light blue
Oregon green yellow
Prarie View A&M purple yellow
Purdue gold
Saint John’s red blue
Saint Louis blue
Saint Mary’s red blue
Seton Hall blue
Syracuse orange
Temple red
Tennessee orange
Texas Tech red
UC Irvine blue gold
UCF gold
Utah State blue
VCU gold
Vermont green yellow
Villanova blue light blue
Virginia blue orange
Virginia Tech maroon orange
Washington purple gold
Wisconsin red
Wofford gold
Yale blue

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Simon Cohen
Simon Cohen
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