March Madness schedule 2026: Day-by-day TV coverage, streams to watch NCAA Tournament games

March Madness

March Madness schedule 2026: Day-by-day TV coverage, streams to watch NCAA Tournament games originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

No more debates. No more projections. Let March Madness begin.

Led by Sporting News College Basketball Player of the Year Cameron Boozer, Duke (East Region) will enter the bracket as the No. 1 overall seed. Arizona (West Region), Florida (South Region) and Michigan (Midwest Region) earned the other No. 1 seeds in this year’s tournament.

Of course, there are also plenty of underdogs hoping to make Cinderella runs. Which teams will navigate their way through a challenging bracket and reach the Final Four?

Here is everything you need to know about the 2026 NCAA Tournament, including TV and streaming options for each round of March Madness.

How to watch 2026 March Madness games: TV channels, live streams

TV channels: CBS, TBS, TNT, truTV

NCAA Tournament games will air on CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV. Viewers can also stream March Madness games on DIRECTV (CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV), Fubo (CBS) and Paramount+ (CBS).

Catch every game — try DIRECTV FREE today! Stream live college basketball, MLB, NHL and more with must-have sports channels like TNT, TBS, truTV, ESPN, FS1 and NFL Network — all included with DIRECTV.

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Round	TV channel	Live stream
First Four	truTV	DIRECTV
First Round	CBS, TBS, TNT, truTV	DIRECTV, Fubo, Paramount+
Second Round	CBS, TBS, TNT, truTV	DIRECTV, Fubo, Paramount+
Sweet 16	CBS, TBS, truTV	DIRECTV, Fubo, Paramount+
Elite Eight	CBS, TBS, truTV	DIRECTV, Fubo, Paramount+
Final Four	TBS, truTV	DIRECTV
Championship	TBS, truTV	DIRECTV

NCAA Tournament schedule, scores 2026

See scores from earlier rounds below

Final Four

Saturday, April 4

Game	Time (ET)	TV/Live stream
No. 2 UConn 71, No. 3 Illinois 62	—	—
No. 1 Arizona vs. No. 1 Michigan	8:49 p.m.	TBS, truTV, DIRECTV

National championship

Monday, April 6

Game	Time (ET)	TV/Live stream
TBD vs. No. 2 UConn	8:50 p.m.	TBS, truTV, DIRECTV

Elite Eight

Saturday, March 28

Game
No. 3 Illinois 71, No. 9 Iowa 59
No. 1 Arizona 79, No. 2 Purdue 64

Sunday, March 29

Game
No. 1 Michigan 95, No. 6 Tennessee 62
No. 2 UConn 73, No. 1 Duke 72

Sweet 16

Thursday, March 26

Game
No. 2 Purdue 79, No. 11 Texas 77
No. 9 Iowa 77, No. 4 Nebraska 71
No. 1 Arizona 109, No. 4 Arkansas 88
No. 3 Illinois 65, No. 2 Houston 55

Friday, March 27

Game
No. 1 Duke 80, No. 5 St. John’s 75
No. 1 Michigan 90, No. 4 Alabama 77
No. 2 UConn 67, No. 3 Michigan State 63
No. 6 Tennessee 76, No. 2 Iowa State 62

Round 2

Saturday, March 21

Game
No. 1 Michigan 95, No. 9 Saint Louis 72
No. 3 Michigan State 77, No. 6 Louisville 69
No. 1 Duke 81, No. 9 TCU 58
No. 2 Houston 88, No. 10 Texas A&M 57
No. 11 Texas 74, No. 3 Gonzaga 68
No. 3 Illinois 76, No. 11 VCU 55
No. 4 Nebraska 74, No. 5 Vanderbilt 72
No. 4 Arkansas 94, No. 12 High Point 88

Sunday, March 22

Game
No. 2 Purdue 79, No. 7 Miami 69
No. 2 Iowa State 82, No. 7 Kentucky 63
No. 5 St. John’s 67, No. 4 Kansas 65
No. 6 Tennessee 79, No. 3 Virginia 72
No. 9 Iowa 73, No. 1 Florida 72
No. 1 Arizona 78, No. 9 Utah State 66
No. 2 UConn 73, No. 7 UCLA 57
No. 4 Alabama 90, No. 5 Texas Tech 65

Round 1

Thursday, March 19

Game
No. 9 TCU 66, No. 8 Ohio State 64
No. 4 Nebraska 76, No. 13 Troy 47
No. 6 Louisville 83, No. 11 South Florida 79
No. 12 High Point 83, No. 5 Wisconsin 82
No. 1 Duke 71, No. 16 Siena 65
No. 5 Vanderbilt 78, No. 12 McNeese 68
No. 3 Michigan State 92, No. 14 North Dakota State 67
No. 4 Arkansas 97, No. 13 Hawaii 78
No. 11 VCU 82, No. 6 North Carolina 78 (OT)
No. 1 Michigan 101, No. 16 Howard 80
No. 11 Texas 79, No. 6 BYU 71
No. 10 Texas A&M 63, No. 7 Saint Mary’s 50
No. 3 Illinois 105, No. 14 Penn 70
No. 9 Saint Louis 102, No. 8 Georgia 77
No. 2 Houston 78, No. 15 Idaho 47
No. 3 Gonzaga 73, No. 14 Kennesaw State 64

Friday, March 20

Game
No. 7 Kentucky 89, No. 10 Santa Clara 84 (OT)
No. 5 Texas Tech 91, No. 12 Akron 71
No. 1 Arizona 92, No. 16 LIU 58
No. 3 Virginia 82, No. 14 Wright State 73
No. 2 Iowa State 108, No. 15 Tennessee State 74
No. 4 Alabama 90, No. 13 Hofstra 70
No. 9 Utah State 86, No. 8 Villanova 76
No. 6 Tennessee 78, No. 11 Miami (Ohio) 56
No. 9 Iowa 67, No. 8 Clemson 61
No. 5 St. John’s 79, No. 12 Northern Iowa 53
No. 7 UCLA 75, No. 10 UCF 71
No. 2 Purdue 104, No. 15 Queens 71
No. 1 Florida 114, No. 16 Prairie View A&M 55
No. 4 Kansas 68, No. 13 Cal Baptist 60
No. 7 Miami (Fla.) 80, No. 10 Missouri 66
No. 2 UConn 82, No. 15 Furman 71

First Four

Tuesday, March 17

Game
No. 16 Howard 86, No. 16 UMBC 83
No. 11 Texas 68, No. 11 NC State 66

Wednesday, March 18

Game
No. 16 Prairie View A&M 67, No. 16 Lehigh 55
No. 11 Miami (Ohio) 89, No. 11 SMU 79

How to listen to NCAA Tournament games on the radio

You can listen to NCAA Tournament games live on SiriusXM. Channels for games are listed on the official SiriusXM website.

New subscribers can listen to SiriusXM for free for four months. Listen to live NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL games, plus NASCAR, college sports and more. Stay updated with all the news and get all the analysis on multiple sport-specific channels.

March Madness bracket 2026

You can download Sporting News’ printable NCAA Tournament bracket (PDF) by clicking here.

NCAA Tournament sites 2026

Round	City	Venue
First Four	Dayton, Ohio	UD Arena
First/Second	Buffalo, N.Y.	KeyBank Center
First/Second	Greenville, S.C.	Bon Secours Wellness Arena
First/Second	Oklahoma City	Paycom Center
First/Second	Portland, Ore.	Moda Center
First/Second	Tampa, Fla.	Benchmark International Arena
First/Second	Philadelphia	Xfinity Mobile Arena
First/Second	San Diego	Viejas Arena
First/Second	St. Louis	Enterprise Center
East Regional	Washington, D.C.	Capital One Arena
West Regional	San Jose, Calif.	SAP Center
South Regional	Houston	Toyota Center
Midwest Regional	Chicago	United Center
Final Four	Indianapolis	Lucas Oil Stadium