{"id":667184,"date":"2026-03-19T16:33:52","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T16:33:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/667184\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T16:33:52","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T16:33:52","slug":"march-madness-2026-how-to-watch-all-of-todays-games-in-the-mens-ncaa-basketball-tournament-follow-your-brackets-start-times-tv-channels-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/667184\/","title":{"rendered":"March Madness 2026: How to watch all of today’s games in the men’s NCAA basketball tournament, follow your brackets, start times, TV channels and more"},"content":{"rendered":"

March Madness <\/a>has arrived. The men’s NCAA tournament tipped off with the First Four<\/a>, and now it’s time for the first round to begin. Today, we’ve got Duke vs. Siena, North Carolina vs. VCU, Michigan State vs. North Dakota State, and more.<\/p>\n

Just like last year, the two March Madness tournaments (men’s and women’s) are spread across a range of channels, so if you\u2019re looking for how to watch March Madness, Yahoo Sports has you covered. Here\u2019s everything you need to know<\/a> about watching the men\u2019s NCAA basketball tournament<\/a> live this week, from the first-round games all the way to the championship.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

How to watch men’s March Madness 2026 \"Image<\/a>\"Image<\/a><\/p>\n

Dates: March 17 – April 6, 2026<\/p>\n

TV channels: CBS, TBS, TNT, TruTV<\/p>\n

Streaming: Paramount+<\/a>, DirecTV<\/a> and more<\/p>\n

Men’s NCAA tournament first-round schedule:<\/p>\n

The following is a breakdown of every First Round game schedule, including who’s playing and how to watch.<\/p>\n

All times Eastern<\/p>\n

Thursday, March 19<\/p>\n

12:15 p.m.: No. 8 Ohio State vs. No. 9 TCU (CBS)<\/p>\n

12:40 p.m.: No. 4 Nebraska vs. No. 13 Troy (TruTV)<\/p>\n

1:30 p.m.: No. 6 Louisville vs. No. 11 South Florida (TNT)<\/p>\n

1:50 p.m.: No. 5 Wisconsin vs. No. 12 High Point (TBS)<\/p>\n

2:50 p.m.: No. 1 Duke vs. No. 16 Siena (CBS)<\/p>\n

3:15 p.m.: No. 5 Vanderbilt vs. No. 12 McNeese (TruTV)<\/p>\n

4:05 p.m.: No. 3 Michigan State vs. No. 14 North Dakota State (TNT)<\/p>\n

4:25 p.m.: No. 4 Arkansas vs. No. 13 Hawaii (TBS)<\/p>\n

6:50 p.m.: No. 6 North Carolina vs. No. 11 VCU (TNT)<\/p>\n

7:10 p.m.: No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 16 UMBC or Howard (CBS)<\/p>\n

7:25 p.m.: No. 6 BYU vs. No. 11 Texas or NC State (TBS)<\/p>\n

7:35 p.m.: No. 7 Saint Mary\u2019s vs. No. 10 Texas A&M (TruTV)<\/p>\n

9:25 p.m.: No. 3 Illinois vs. No. 14 Penn (TNT)<\/p>\n

9:45 p.m.: No. 8 Georgia vs. No. 9 Saint Louis (CBS)<\/p>\n

10 p.m.: No. 3 Gonzaga vs. No. 14 Kennesaw State (TBS)<\/p>\n

10:10 p.m.: No. 2 Houston vs. No. 15 Idaho (TruTV)<\/p>\n

Friday, March 20<\/p>\n

12:15 p.m.: No. 7 Kentucky vs. No. 10 Santa Clara (CBS)<\/p>\n

12:40 p.m.: No. 5 Texas Tech vs. No. 12 Akron (TruTV)<\/p>\n

1:35 p.m.: No. 1 Arizona vs. No. 16 LIU (TNT)<\/p>\n

1:50 p.m.: No. 3 Virginia vs. No. 14 Wright State (TBS)<\/p>\n

2:50 p.m.: No. 2 Iowa State vs. No. 15 Tennessee State (CBS)<\/p>\n

3:15 p.m.: No. 4 Alabama vs. No. 13 Hofstra (TruTV)<\/p>\n

4:10 p.m.: No. 8 Villanova vs. No. 9 Utah State (TNT)<\/p>\n

4:25 p.m.: No. 6 Tennessee vs. No. 11 Miami (Ohio) or SMU (TBS)<\/p>\n

6:50 p.m.: No. 8 Clemson vs. No. 9 Iowa (TNT)<\/p>\n

7:10 p.m.: No. 5 St. John\u2019s vs. No. 12 Northern Iowa (CBS)<\/p>\n

7:25 p.m.: No. 7 UCLA vs. No. 10 UCF (TBS)<\/p>\n

7:35 p.m.: No. 2 Purdue vs. No. 15 Queens (TruTV)<\/p>\n

9:25 p.m.: No. 16 Prairie View A&M or Lehigh vs. No. 1 Florida (TNT)<\/p>\n

9:45 p.m.: No. 4 Kansas vs. No. 13 Cal Baptist (CBS)<\/p>\n

10 p.m.: No. 2 UConn vs. No. 15 Furman (TBS)<\/p>\n

10:10 p.m.: No. 7 Miami vs. No. 10 Missouri (TruTV)<\/p>\n

What channel is March Madness on in 2026?<\/p>\n

Games in the men\u2019s NCAA tournament will air across CBS, TBS, TNT and TruTV. The women\u2019s NCAA tournament will air across the ESPN suite \u2014 ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNews and ABC.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t have cable? Don\u2019t worry. You can stream the men\u2019s games easily with a subscription to Paramount<\/a>+ Premium and HBO Max<\/a> Standard, or a live-TV streaming service like DirecTV<\/a>, Fubo<\/a> or Sling. The women\u2019s games will be accessible via an ESPN Unlimited subscription (or any live-TV streaming service that includes the ESPN suite).<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

How to watch March Madness games live without cable\"Image<\/a><\/p>\n

DirecTV is currently offering its Choice tier (typically $115+\/month with fees) for just $80 (after fees) for the first month ($105\/month for the following two months).\u00a0<\/p>\n

DirecTV’s Choice tier gives you access to tons of sports channels, including ESPN, the ACC Network, the Big Ten Network, the SEC Network and plenty of local regional sports networks. Plus, you’ll get access to ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox.<\/p>\n

Whichever package you choose, you’ll get unlimited Cloud DVR storage and access to ESPN’s new streaming tier, ESPN Unlimited.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The best part is that you can currently try all this out for free for five days. If you’re interested in trying a live-TV streaming service for the start of March Madness but aren’t ready to commit, we recommend starting with DirecTV.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Image<\/a><\/p>\n

Paramount+ offers subscribers access to loads of sports, including some March Madness games, the NFL, soccer and more. Plus, you get access to great shows like Survivor, The Challenge and others.<\/p>\n

There are two Paramount+ tiers to choose from: the ad-supported Essential plan or its ad-free Premium plan, which also gives you ad-free streaming of on-demand content, live access to your local CBS station and full streaming access to Showtime. <\/p>\n

You’ll need the Paramount+ Premium tier to watch March Madness games. Luckily, right now, Paramount+ is running a deal: Get any plan of your choosing for $2.99\/month for the first two months. That means you can catch live March Madness games on CBS throughout the tournament for just $6. <\/p>\n

\"Image<\/a>\"Image<\/a>\"Image<\/a>\"Image<\/a>\"Image<\/a>When does March Madness start?<\/p>\n

The men’s NCAA tournament games tipped off with the First Four on Tuesday, March 17. The women’s side tipped off on Wednesday, March 18.<\/p>\n

When does March Madness end?<\/p>\n

The men’s NCAA basketball tournament concludes with the championship game on Monday, April 6, 2026.<\/p>\n

2026 NCAA men’s basketball tournament key dates<\/p>\n

Selection Sunday: 6 p.m. ET Sunday, March 15 on CBS<\/p>\n

First Four: Tuesday, March 17 and Wednesday, March 18<\/p>\n

First round: Thursday, March 19 and Friday, March 20<\/p>\n

Second round: Saturday, March 21 and Sunday, March 22<\/p>\n

Sweet 16: Thursday, March 26 and Friday, March 27<\/p>\n

Elite Eight: Saturday, March 28 and Sunday, March 29<\/p>\n

Final Four: Saturday, April 4 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis<\/p>\n

NCAA championship game: Monday, April 6 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"March Madness has arrived. The men’s NCAA tournament tipped off with the First Four, and now it’s time…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":667185,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3723],"tags":[7,217,7456,1995,231,772,1544,1773,12292,85485,790,85486],"class_list":["post-667184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-basketball","tag-basketball","tag-college-basketball","tag-march-madness","tag-michigan-state","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-basketball","tag-ncaab","tag-north-carolina","tag-north-dakota-state","tag-tbs","tag-tnt","tag-trutv"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116256813080333254","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=667184"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667184\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/667185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=667184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=667184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=667184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}