3 hours ago 2

March Madness 2025: NCAA tournament schedule, where to stream games and more

It’s almost March, and you know what that means: the 2025 NCAA tournament — AKA March Madness — is almost here. Selection Sunday starts all the action on Mar. 16 over on CBS and ESPN. The First Four games tip-off on Mar. 18. This year’s tournament will air across CBS, TBS, TNT, TruTV, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPNews. Auburn has clearly established itself as the favorite to win the men's NCAA tournament. There’s also a chance that the SEC could sweep all four top seeds this year. Here’s what else you should know ahead of March Madness 2025.

How to watch March Madness 2025:

Dates: Mar. 18 - Apr. 7

TV channel(s): CBS, TBS, TNT, TruTV, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNews

Streaming: Paramount+, Max, DirecTV, Fubo

When does March Madness start?

Both the men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments get started on Sunday, Mar. 16 with the unveiling of the official March Madness brackets. Then, the games begin Tuesday, Mar. 18 with the First Four games.

When is Selection Sunday?

All the March Madness action begins on Selection Sunday with the Selection Committee revealing the full NCAA tournament bracket for both the men's and women's NCAA teams. Selection Sunday 2025 will fall on Mar. 16 this year.

Selection Sunday channel:

Selection Sunday will see the men’s bracket unveiled at 6 p.m. ET on CBS. The women’s bracket will be revealed at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.

What channel is March Madness on?

Games in the men’s NCAA tournament will air across CBS, TBS, TNT and TruTV. The women’s NCAA tournament will air across the ESPN suite — so ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPNews.

Don’t have cable? Don’t worry. You can stream the men’s games easily with a subscription to Paramount+ and Max, or a live TV streaming service like DirecTV, Fubo or Sling. The women’s games will also be accessible via a live TV streaming service that includes the ESPN suite.

How to watch March Madness 2025:

Max, AKA "the one to watch," has select live sports available through its Bleacher Report Sports add-on, which is included free of charge for ad-free Max subscribers. (If you currently subscribe to Max's ad-supported plan, you should be able to access the B/R add-on content until March 30).

On top of March Madness games on TBS, TNT and TruTV, Max has buzzy shows including The White Lotus, The Last of Us, House of the Dragon, Dune: Prophecy and more.

Ad-supported Max starts at $10/month. The Standard plan (which includes B/R Sports free of charge) costs $17/month.

$16.99/month at Max

Paramount+ has two tiers available: an $8/month ad-supported tier and a $13/month premium tier that’s ad-free and includes live access to your local CBS channel (and access to Showtime) — which you'll need to stream select March Madness games.

Right now, Paramount+ is still offering a free trial — so new subscribers could sign up to watch Selection Sunday and the First Four, plus check out the rest of the Paramount+ library free for seven days.

Try free at Paramount+

While Sling doesn't offer a free trial these days, since March Madness lasts longer than your standard trial would, anyway, it ends up being a solid option to catch most games in the tournament. Emphasis on most, because one big blindspot for Sling is that it doesn't carry CBS.

That being said, for $33 for your first month of Sling orange + the Sports Extra add-on, you can catch all the games on TBS, TNT, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPNews.

$33 for your first month at Sling