Get your brackets ready! March Madness is upon us. The NCAA men’s basketball tournament starts on Tuesday with two of the First Four play-in games. The other two play-in games follow on Wednesday before the madness truly begins on Thursday with 16 first-round games played all afternoon and into the night.
Here’s all you need to know to watch March Madness without cable.
Chet Holmgren and Gonzaga enter the NCAA tournament as the top seed.
Michael Hickey/Getty ImagesWhere can I see the March Madness bracket?
You can check out all of the regions, seeds and matchups of the NCAA tournament bracket here.
When does March Madness start?
The First Four games will take place today and tomorrow. Here’s the schedule (all times ET):
Tuesday, March 15
- No. 16 Texas Southern vs. No. 16 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 6:40 p.m. on TruTV
- No. 12 Wyoming vs. No. 12 Indiana, 9:10 p.m. on TruTV
Wednesday, March 16
- No. 16 Wright State vs. No. 16 Bryant, 6:40 p.m. on TruTV
- No. 11 Rutgers vs. No. 11 Notre Dame, 9:10 p.m. on TruTV
The First Round, which features 64 teams, begins on Thursday, March 17 and continues on Friday, March 18. Check out the full schedule here.
Where is the Final Four taking place?
The Final Four and national championship game will take place in New Orleans at the Caesars Superdome and will air on TBS.
Which channels will air March Madness games?
Games for the NCAA tournament will air on CBS, TBS, TNT and TruTV.
Per the NCAA, here is the breakdown of where you can find games:
- CBS will broadcast 21 games throughout the tournament, including the Elite 8, Sweet 16 and first and second rounds.
- TBS will televise 21 games, including the National Championship, Final Four, Elite 8, Sweet 16 and first- and second-round games.
- TruTV will air a total of 13 games, including the First Four and the first and second rounds.
- TNT will televise 12 games, including first- and second-round matchups.
Three of the streaming services — YouTube TV, Hulu Plus Live TV and DirecTV Stream — offer all four of the above channels needed to catch all of the madness this month.
You can also stream the games live at with NCAA March Madness Live, but you’ll need to log in with a TV provider to prove you are a pay-TV subscriber. You can also watch the games broadcast on CBS with Paramount Plus, but that’s less than an ideal choice, because the Final Four games and national championship game will be shown TBS this year, not CBS.
What channel is TruTV?
You’ll need to locate TruTV on your channel lineup for the first two rounds of the tournament if you don’t want to miss any of the games and potential buzzer-beaters. Here’s where you can find it on the biggest cable and satellite providers:
YouTube TV costs $65 a month and includes CBS, TBS, TNT and TruTV to watch every game of March Madness. Plug in your ZIP code on its welcome page to see what live, local networks are available where you live. Read our YouTube TV review.
Hulu With Live TV costs $70 a month and includes CBS, TBS, TNT and TruTV. Click the “View all channels in your area” link on its welcome page to see which local channels are offered in your ZIP code. Read our Hulu With Live TV review.
DirecTV Stream’s basic, $70-a-month package includes CBS, TBS, TNT and TruTV. You can use its channel lookup tool to see if you get a live feed of CBS and the other local networks in your ZIP code. Read our DirecTV Stream review.
Sling TV is a poor choice for watching March Madness because it does not include CBS. Its $35-a-month Blue plan includes TruTV along with TBS and TNT. Read our Sling TV review.
FuboTV costs $65 a month and includes CBS, but not TBS, TNT or TruTV. With the Final Four games and national championship game on TBS, FuboTV is not a good pick for college basketball fans. Click here to see which local channels you get. Read our FuboTV review.
You can stream every game of March Madness on the NCAA’s March Madness Live site or app. You will need to log in, however, to prove you have a pay TV subscription that includes the channels that televise the tournament. It should be noted that in addition to cable and satellite providers, you can use a YouTube TV, Hulu With TV, DirecTV Stream or Sling TV subscription to access March Madness Live. (FuboTV is the lone exception among the live TV streaming services because it doesn’t offer any of the Turner-owned stations.)
Latency is an issue with any streaming service and particularly with live sports, where you might also be following along on Twitter and could see a final score before the game actually ends. The NCAA says this year’s streams will offer a 20% latency improvement compared to last year’s. While that is welcomed, March Madness Live streams will likely still be behind cable and satellite TV and could also trail streams from YouTube TV and the other live TV services.
All of the live TV streaming services above offer free trials, allow you to cancel anytime and require a solid internet connection. Looking for more information? Check out our live-TV streaming services guide.
