How to watch March Madness 2025 online or on TV: everything you need to know

Cue the music and ready your brackets, because March Madness 2025 is here. Men's and women's college basketball are heading into their postseason play, highlighted by the multi-week NCAA Tournaments that have become known for buzzer beaters, upsets and other must-see moments. We're here to help you make sure you can watch March Madness 2025 in all its glory, whether through traditional TV, live TV streaming services or online.

Not only that, but we've got all the information you need to know about the 2025 NCAA Tournaments right here. That includes the overall schedule for the tournament, which teams have qualified and more.

While big-name stars like Johni Broome, Cooper Flagg, Paige Bueckers, Juju Watkins and more are some of the known commodities, March Madness always makes stars during its run. Don't miss "one shining moment" of it with everything you need to know about how to watch the 2025 March Madness tournament directly below.

How to watch March Madness 2025 in the US

Men's NCAA Tournament games will be shown on CBS, TBS, TNT and TruTV, so in order to catch as much of the action as possible, you'll need a setup that gives you access to all (or at least some) of those channels. Thankfully there are a few options.

Anyone with a basic pay-TV subscription or a TV antenna can tune into games on CBS, while the broadcast network is also available through live TV streaming services like Fubo, Hulu with Live TV and YouTube TV.

TBS, TNT and TruTV are all cable channels, but they are carried by most pay-TV providers, as well as being available through the likes of Hulu with Live TV, Sling TV and YouTube TV.

If you've cut the cord to these types of live TV services, there are also streaming options. You can watch March Madness on Paramount Plus, with all games airing on CBS available through the streamer, while games that air on TBS, TNT and TruTV will be streaming live on Max (all subscribers will be able to stream games through the Elite Eight; CBS is airing all Final Four games).

The women's March Madness tournament, meanwhile, has a broadcast home on ABC, ESPN and its subsidiary channels. You can watch games on ABC if you have a traditional pay-TV provider or TV antenna, or live TV streaming services like Fubo, Hulu with Live TV, YouTube TV and Sling TV (in select areas). Cable channel ESPN, meanwhile, is also available through Fubo, Hulu with Live TV, YouTube TV and Sling TV.

You can also watch multiple games at once on your computer via NCAA.com for the men’s and ESPN.com for the women's, but you need to have a subscription to one of the above services.

How to watch March Madness 2025 from anywhere

If you're going to be away from your normal TV setup but still want to watch the March Madness tournaments, you might run into some problems. Thankfully, you can solve this exact issue with a Virtual Private Network (VPN).

A VPN lets you change your IP address to that of the area of what you want to watch, meaning you can tune in to your favorite show, game or other content even if you're not there. Our favorite is NordVPN, which is the No. 1-rated VPN in the world right now according to our sister site, TechRadar.

How to use a VPN to watch any stream

• Download the app at NordVPN
• Choose the location of the streaming service you want to watch (UK, US, etc)
• Navigate to the streaming service and start watching!

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March Madness 2025 schedule

Here is the complete schedule for the NCAA tournaments for both the men and women:

NCAA men's basketball tournament schedule
March 16: Selection Sunday
March 18-19: First Four
March 20-21: First Round
March 22-23: Second Round
March 27-28: Sweet Sixteen
March 29-30: Elite Eight
April 5: Final Four
April 7: National Championship

NCAA women's basketball tournament schedule
March 16: Selection Sunday
March 19-20: First Four
March 21-22: First Round
March 23-24: Second Round
March 28-29: Sweet Sixteen
March 30-31: Elite Eight
April 4: Final Four
April 6: National Championship

March Madness 2025 teams

We won't officially know what teams have made the men's and women's NCAA Tournaments and where they are ranked until Selection Sunday on March 16. However, we know many teams are locks to get in, like Auburn, Duke and Houston in the men's bracket, and Texas, USC, UConn in the women's bracket, along with a number of others.

Several teams though will secure their spot with wins in their conference tournaments. Taking place over the next couple of weeks, we're tracking all the automatic bids earned by conference champs.

Men's NCAA tournament automatic bids

• American East: TBD (March 15 championship game)
• American Athletic: TBD (March 16 championship game)
• Atlantic 10: TBD (March 16 championship game)
• ACC: TBD (March 15 championship game)
• ASUN: TBD (March 9 championship game)
• Big 12: TBD (March 15 championship game)
• Big East: TBD (March 15 championship game)
• Big Sky: TBD (March 12 championship game)
• Big South: TBD (March 9 championship game)
• Big Ten: TBD (March 16 championship game)
• Big West: TBD (March 15 championship game)
• CAA: TBD (March 11 championship game)
• Conference USA: TBD (March 15 championship game)
• Horizon League: TBD (March 11 championship game)
• Ivy League: TBD (March 16 championship game)
• MAAC: TBD (March 15 championship game)
• MAC: TBD (March 15 championship game)
• MEAC: TBD (March 15 championship game)
• Missouri Valley: TBD (March 9 championship game)
• Mountain West: TBD (March 15 championship game)
• Northeast: TBD (March 11 championship game)
• Ohio Valley: TBD (March 8 championship game)
• Patriot League: TBD (March 12 championship game)
• SEC: TBD (March 16 championship game)
• Southern: TBD (March 10 championship game)
• Southland: TBD (March 12 championship game)
• SWAC: TBD (March 15 championship game)
• Summit League: TBD (March 9 championship game)
• Sun Belt: TBD (March 10 championship game)
• West Coast: TBD (March 11 championship game)
• WAC: TBD (March 15 championship game)

Women's NCAA tournament automatic bids

• American East: TBD (March 14 championship game)
• American Athletic: TBD (March 12 championship game)
• Atlantic 10: TBD (March 9 championship game)
• ACC: TBD (March 9 championship game)
• ASUN: TBD (March 15 championship game)
• Big 12: TBD (March 9 championship game)
• Big East: TBD (March 10 championship game)
• Big Sky: TBD (March 12 championship game)
• Big South: TBD (March 9 championship game)
• Big Ten: TBD (March 9 championship game)
• Big West: TBD (March 15 championship game)
• CAA: TBD (March 16 championship game)
• Conference USA: TBD (March 15 championship game)
• Horizon League: TBD (March 11 championship game)
• Ivy League: TBD (March 15 championship game)
• MAAC: TBD (March 15 championship game)
• MAC: TBD (March 15 championship game)
• MEAC: TBD (March 15 championship game)
• Missouri Valley: TBD (March 16 championship game)
• Mountain West: TBD (March 12 championship game)
• Northeast: TBD (March 11 championship game)
• Ohio Valley: TBD (March 8 championship game)
• Patriot League: TBD (March 16 championship game)
• SEC: TBD (March 9 championship game)
• Southern: TBD (March 9 championship game)
• Southland: TBD (March 13 championship game)
• SWAC: TBD (March 15 championship game)
• Summit League: TBD (March 9 championship game)
• Sun Belt: TBD (March 10 championship game)
• West Coast: TBD (March 11 championship game)
• WAC: TBD (March 15 championship game)

March Madness 2025 brackets

The brackets for the men's and women's March Madness 2025 tournaments will be released following Selection Sunday on March 16. When they are available we'll share them right here as well as provide links to online versions to keep up with the tournament as it progresses.

What else to know about March Madness 2025