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March has arrived, which means the madness will soon follow. The NCAA men’s college basketball tournament — dubbed March Madness for the unpredictability that gives us small school Cinderella runs and bracket-busting buzzer beaters — gets underway in less than a week on Tuesday, March 19.
Eyeing a repeat championship, Tristen Newton and the UConn Huskies will likely enter the 2024 NCAA tournament as a top seed.
When is Selection Sunday?
The March Madness bracket and matchups will be revealed on Sunday, March 17. The Selection Sunday show begins at 6 p.m. ET (3 p.m. PT) on CBS and Paramount Plus.
When does March Madness start?
Technically, the tournament gets underway on Tuesday, March 19, but the first full day of games tips off on Thursday, March 21.
With 68 teams invited to the big dance, the NCCA holds four play-in games to get the field down to 64, after which point the math works out to have four regional tournaments of 16 teams each. The winners of the four regional tournaments then advance to the Final Four, held this year at State Farm Stadium (home of the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals) in Glendale, Arizona.
March Madness begins on Tuesday, March 19, with two play-in games followed by two more play-in games the next night. After these First Four games, the field of 64 is set and the tournament begins in earnest on Thursday, March 21, with a full slate of games that will take place all afternoon and into the night with at least a few moments of madness practically guaranteed.
What is the March Madness tournament schedule?
Here’s the schedule, round by round:
- First Four: March 19-20
- First round: March 21-22
- Second round: March 23-24
- Sweet 16: March 28-29
- Elite Eight: March 30-31
- Final Four: Saturday, April 6
- NCAA championship game: Monday, April 8
Which are the top teams in college basketball this year?
Looking for help in filling out your bracket? I can offer no such assistance for a single-elimination tournament as wild and unpredictable as March Madness.
What I can tell you is that online wagering site FanDuel currently lists defending champion UConn as the favorite, followed by Houston and Purdue. In the next tier are Arizona and Tennessee. Rounding out the top 10 in the polls are Auburn, North Carolina, Duke, Creighton and Kentucky.
How can I watch or stream March Madness?
As in past years, the tournament will be shown across four channels: CBS, TBS, TNT and TruTV. Yep, the time has come again to find TruTV on your dial.
You can watch these channels with a cable subscription or a live TV streaming service, but the most affordable option is signing up for a pair of streaming services for a month: Max and Paramount Plus with Showtime. If you have the cheaper Paramount Plus Essential plan, you won’t be able to watch March Madness unless you step up to the pricier option.
That said, for just $22, you can watch every March Madness game live. With the $10-per-month Max streaming service, you can watch the games broadcast on TBS, TNT and TruTV. And with the $12-per-month Paramount Plus with Showtime plan, you’ll be able to watch the CBS games.
You’ll have to juggle multiple apps, of course, but this is the cheapest ways to catch all the action.
You’ll need the premium Paramount Plus with Showtime plan in order to livestream the March Madness games broadcast on CBS. It costs $12 per month, which is double the price of the non-Showtime plan. For this year’s tournament, CBS will show games from the first round through the Elite Eight. Also of note: You’ll be able to watch the Selection Sunday show with Paramount Plus.
YouTube TV costs $73 per month and includes CBS, TBS, TNT and TruTV. Plug in your ZIP code on its welcome page to see if CBS is available in your area.
Not only is YouTube TV the cheapest live TV streaming service that offers all four channels for March Madness, but it’s also the only service that offers multi-view so you can watch four games at once. And if there’s one sporting event that cries out for multi-view, it’s March Madness, especially the first two rounds when so many games are being played at the same time.
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.
