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March Madness is back! The 2024 NCAA men’s basketball championship began with the First Four on Tuesday (March 19).
Keep reading for the schedule and ways to watch and stream March Madness games.
March Madness Schedule
March Madness officially started during Selection Sunday on March 17. The First Four in the men’s tournament will be held from March 19-20 with four games scheduled: Wagner vs. Howard at 6:40 p.m. ET on truTV, Colorado State vs. Virginia at 9:10 p.m. ET on truTV, Grambling vs. Montana State at 6:40 p.m. ET on truTV and Colorado vs. Boise State at 9:10 p.m. ET on truTV.
Friday’s games will broadcast across CBS, truTV, TBS, TNT and ESPN. Game day begins with Florida Atlantic vs. Northwestern airing Friday at 12:15 p.m. ET on CBS. Baylor vs. Colgate is scheduled for 12:40 p.m. ET on truTV, San Diego State vs. UAB at 1:45 p.m. on TNT, Marquette vs. Western Kentucky at 2 p.m. ET on TBS, and UConn vs. Stetson at 2:45 p.m. ET on CBS.
The men’s Final Four is slated for April 6.
Sacred Heart and Presbyterian College will kick off the First Four women’s games on Wednesday (March 20) at 7 p.m. on ESPNU. The women’s basketball schedule includes Vanderbilt vs. Columbia at 9 p.m. ET on ESPNU on Wednesday. Thursday’s schedule will feature Auburn vs. Arizona at 7 p.m. on ESPNU and Holy Cross vs. UT Martin at 9 p.m. on ESPN2.
North Carolina vs. Michigan State, Ohio State vs. Maine, LSU vs. Rice, Virginia Tech vs. Marshall, South Carolina vs. Sacred Heart/Presbyterian are on the schedule for Friday. This week’s women’s games will air across ESPN, ABC, ESPNU and ESPN2.
The women’s Final Four championship will take place on April 5.
How to Watch March Madness Games Without Cable
Whether you’re watching March Madness on your computer, phone or TV, streaming gives you plenty of variety and the ability to watch from anywhere.
Sports fans who already have access to ESPN, TNT, TBS, truTV, ABC and CBS through cable, satellite, internet (or an HD antenna for local channels), can watch March Madness games live, but for those who haven’t settled on a TV streamer, we’ve put together a few different options that are actually worth the money.
Fans can watch and stream March Madness games through DirecTV and other platforms that provide live television such as Hulu+ Live TV, Fubo, Sling TV and Max.
New customers can join DirectTV for just $69.99/month when you subscribe for 24 months. DirecTV is a good option because it offers cable channels and local channels including ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox, alongside TNT, TBS, truTV, ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU.
Subscribe to Max and stream NCAA games for as low as $5.83 per month when you prepay for a year. This is the first time that the steamers has offered access to all 2024 NCAA Division Men’s Basketball Championship games live in addition to studio coverage airing on TBS, TNT and truTV, including the 2024 NCAA Men’s Final Four National Semifinals and the 2024 Men’s National Championship.
This is the first time that Max will stream all the 2024 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship live games and studio coverage airing on TBS, TNT, and truTV — including the 2024 NCAA Men’s Final Four® National Semifinals and the 2024 Men’s National Championship. All tournament games on Max will be available to stream in Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos.
In addition to game coverage, Max will debut the sports programs Max Bracket Breakdown on Thursday and Max Daily Replay on Friday. The tournament games will be available to stream on Max in Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos.
The limited offer save you over 40% off Max streaming plans and applies to new, returning and existing customers.
Interested in more streaming deal? Sling TV starts at just $20 for the first month, and streamers like Fubo and DirecTV Stream offer free trials for up to a week.
With Sling, you can stream dozens of channels including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, TNT, TBS, FS1, FX and more. Furthermore, Sling’s Ultimate Basketball Offers will save you $40 over four months.
Thinking about joining Philo? Unfortunately, channels like CBS, TNT and TBS are not available on Philo, but subscribers can stream 60+ channels for just $25/month and a free trial for 7-days.
You can stream select March Madness games and other CBS programs with Paramount+ with Showtime for $11.99/month after a free trial for the first week (click here for ways to land free Paramount+ for more than a week).
Watch TV shows, movies and more including Paramount+ Originals such as Halo, The Family Stone, Star Trek Picard, Special Opps: Lioness, 1883, Mayor of Kingstown, and CBS shows such as Ghosts, NCIS, CBS Mornings and Survivor.
In addition to movies and TV shows, documentaries, concert specials and CBS, Paramount+ subscribers can also watch other live sports such as soccer. And if you’re an Amazon Prime member, Paramount+ with Showtime is available on Prime Video.
Can you watch March Madness games on ESPN+? Although you won’t find the NCAA March Madness tournament on ESPN+, there are plenty of college sports games available including basketball, football, soccer and more.
Streaming internationally? Use ExpressVPN or NordVPN to access CBS, TBS, TNT, ESPN, Paramount+ and other platforms from outside the U.S.
March Madness Merch & Tickets: Where to Buy
And now, it’s time to talk merch. If you’re looking for March Madness merchandise you can find lots of gear at retailers such as Fanatics, FansEdge, Amazon, Dick’s Sporting Goods and the NCAA Shop.
You can find tickets available at StubHub, Vivid Seats, StubHub and Gametime.
Click here for the full 2024 NCAA men’s March Madness schedule and here for the women’s schedule.
Need a March Madness bracket? Download a printable bracket here.
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