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March Madness is back! The 2024 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship kicked off with the First Four on Tuesday (March 19).
Read on for the schedule and ways to watch and stream March Madness games.
March Madness Schedule
March Madness officially kicked off on Selection Sunday on March 17th. The First Four in the men's tournament will be played March 19-20 with four games: 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 be broadcast on 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 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 scheduled 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 features 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 Friday's schedule. This week's women's games will be broadcast on ESPN, ABC, ESPNU and ESPN2.
The Women's Final Four Championship will be held 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 great variety and the ability to watch from anywhere.
Sports fans who already have access to ESPN, TNT, TBS, truTV, ABC and CBS via cable, satellite, internet (or HD antenna for local channels), can watch the March Madness games live, but for those who haven't compromised a TV stream, we've rounded up a few different options that are really worth the money.
Fans can watch and stream March Madness games through DirecTV and other platforms that provide live TV, including Hulu+ Live TV, Fubo, Sling TV and Max.
New customers can join DirectTV for just $69.99/month when you sign up for 24 months. DirecTV is a good choice because it offers cable channels and local channels, including ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox, along with TNT, TBS, truTV, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU.
Join Max and stream NCAA games for just $5.83 a month when you prepay for a year. This is the first time steamers will offer access to all 2024 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship games in addition to studio coverage broadcast on TBS, TNT and truTV, including the 2024 Men's Final Four National Semifinals and the National Men's Championship 2024.
This is the first time Max will broadcast live 2024 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship games and studio coverage broadcast on TBS, TNT and truTV — including the 2024 NCAA Final Four® Men's National Semifinals and Men's National Championship 2024. All tournament games on Max will be available to stream in Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos.
In addition to game coverage, Max will make his sports programming debut Maximum arm resolution on Thursday and Max Daily Replay the manufacture. Tournament games will be available to stream on Max in Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos.
The limited offer saves you over 40% off Max streaming plans and is valid for new, returning and existing customers.
Interested in more streaming deals? 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. Plus, Sling's Ultimate Basketball Deals will save you $40 over four months.
Thinking of joining Philo? Unfortunately, channels like CBS, TNT, and TBS aren't available on Philo, but subscribers can stream 60+ channels for just $25/month and a 7-day free trial.
You can stream select March Madness games and other CBS programming with Paramount+ with Showtime for $11.99/month after a free first-week trial (click here for ways to land free Paramount+ for more than one week).
Watch TV shows, movies and more, including Paramount+ Originals like Halo, The Family Stone, Star Trek Picard, Special Ops: Lioness1883, Mayor of Kingstownand 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 sports live, such as football. And if you're an Amazon Prime member, Paramount+ with Showtime is available on Prime Video.
Can you watch March Madness games on ESPN+? While 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.
Stream internationally? Use ExpressVPN or NordVPN to access CBS, TBS, TNT, ESPN, Paramount+ and other platforms outside the US
March Madness Merch & Tickets: Where to Buy
And now, it's time to talk commercial. If you're looking for March Madness merchandise, you can find plenty of gear at retailers like Fanatics, FansEdge, Amazon, Dick's Sporting Goods and the NCAA Shop.
You can find available tickets on StubHub, Vivid Seats, StubHub and Gametime.
Click here for the complete 2024 NCAA Men's March Madness schedule and here for the women's schedule.
Need a March Madness brace? Download a printable bracket here.
