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 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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Today's March Madness games

See who's playing with a look at the schedule for today's March Madness games:

Friday, March 28

Men's tournament

• 6-seed Ole Miss vs 2-seed Michigan State, 7:09 pm ET/4:09 pm PT, CBS
• 3- Kentucky vs 2-seed Tennessee, 7:39 pm ET/4:30 pm PT, TBS/TruTV
• 5-seed Michigan vs 1-seed Auburn, 9:39 pm ET/6:39 pm PT, CBS
• 4-seed Purdue vs 1-seed Houston, 10:09 pm ET/7:09 pm PT, TBS/TruTV

Women's tournament

• 3-seed UNC vs 2-seed Duke, 2:30 pm ET/11:30 am PT, ESPN
• 4-seed Maryland vs 1-seed South Carolina, 5 pm ET/2 pm PT, ESPN
• 3-seed LSU vs 2-seed NC State, 7:30 pm ET/4:30 pm PT, ESPN
• 5-seed Ole Miss vs 1-seed UCLA, 10 pm ET/7 pm PT, ESPN

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 brackets

Take a look at the initial brackets for the men's and women's tournament below. You can also

2025 March Madness men's bracket

2025 March Madness women's bracket

You can fill out interactive brackets online for each tournament through CBS Sports and ESPN.

What else to know about March Madness 2025