March Madness 2026: How to Watch the First Round Without Cable

When to observe the First Spherical

• Saturday, March 21 (ladies’s)

When to observe the Second Spherical

• Saturday and Sunday, March 21 and 22 (males’s)
• Sunday and Monday, March 22 and 23 (ladies’s)

See at DirecTV

Carries each channel for March Insanity

DirecTV MySports package deal

Present extra (2 gadgets)

The place to observe 

• The lads’s First and Second Spherical shall be broadcast throughout CBS, TNT, TBS and TruTV and streams on HBO Max.
• The ladies’s First and Second Spherical shall be broadcast on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNews and streams on ESPN Limitless.

NCAA March Insanity is right here! It has been virtually a 12 months for the reason that Florida Gators gained the lads’s basketball championship and the UConn Huskies earned the ladies’s title, and each groups have snagged high seeds on the 2026 NCAA match, too. The Gators discover themselves sharing the No. 1 spot with Duke, Michigan and Arizona, whereas the ladies’s Huskies are joined by Texas, South Carolina and UCLA within the high 4. At this stage of the match, all the highest seeds are nonetheless in, though a number of early upsets have seen groups like BYU and Wisconsin departing the lads’s competitors within the First Spherical. 

Against this, there have not been any main upsets within the ladies’s First Spherical, which continues via Saturday. The ladies’s Second Spherical begins Sunday. The ladies’s First and Second Rounds air on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPNews and stream on ESPN Limitless. The lads’s Second Spherical takes place Saturday and Sunday and video games shall be unfold throughout CBS, TBS, TNT and TruTV and can stream on HBO Max or Paramount Plus. 

This is a breakdown of each crew that is taking part in, easy methods to watch and every little thing else that you must know.

When is March Insanity 2026?

March Insanity 2026 started Tuesday, March 17, with the lads’s First 4 video games. The ladies’s First 4 passed off Wednesday, March 18, and Thursday, March 19. Video games will run via the remainder of March and into early April; the ladies’s championship remaining is scheduled for April 5, the lads’s for April 6.

Watch March Insanity with out cable

Girls’s March Insanity video games will air throughout ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPNews. Each First 4 recreation of the ladies’s match shall be broadcast on ESPN2 and ESPN Limitless. Males’s March Insanity video games shall be break up amongst CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV. You’ll be able to catch each males’s First 4 recreation on TruTV by way of HBO Max.

ESPN Limitless is ESPN’s complete, standalone streaming service. For $30 per 30 days, you possibly can watch each ladies’s March Insanity recreation multi function place. Read our review of ESPN Unlimited.

With HBO Max, you possibly can stream 46 video games within the males’s March Insanity match, together with the Remaining 4 and the Championship Remaining. And with HBO Max’s multiview expertise, you possibly can stream as much as three matchups concurrently. Stay sports activities are solely obtainable on HBO Max’s Customary ($18.50 per 30 days) and Premium ($23 a month) plans.

You can watch choose video games from the First Spherical to the Elite Eight reside on CBS, which streams on Paramount Plus Premium. A subscription sometimes prices $14 a month, however now via March 31, new clients and choose returning clients can get their first two months for simply $3 a month.

Watch March Insanity with a reside TV streaming service

Do not need to subscribe to a number of streaming companies to observe March Insanity? That is comprehensible. There are a number of live TV streaming services the place you possibly can watch most or all the males’s and girls’s tournaments multi function place. Every of them offers a free trial. 

The lads’s video games shall be on CBS, TBS, TNT and TruTV, and girls’s video games shall be carried throughout ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPNews. With a subscription to DirecTV, Hulu Plus Stay TV or YouTube TV,  you possibly can watch each channel that is broadcasting the lads’s and girls’s tournaments.

We’ll be aware that Fubo provides main sporting occasions and even contains entry to ESPN Limitless. It would not carry TBS, TNT or TruTV, making it a much less splendid possibility for watching the lads’s match.

YouTube TV prices $83 per 30 days and contains CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV for the lads’s match and ESPN’s suite of channels for the ladies’s match. Proper now, you possibly can join YouTube TV and get your first two months for $60/month, and there’s a free 21-day trial.

Not each native channel is out there in each market, so you may want to ensure the networks broadcasting the 2026 match are provided in your space. Plug in your ZIP code on its welcome page to see which native networks you get.

Read our YouTube TV review.

Hulu with Stay TV prices $90 a month and options each channel that you must watch each March Insanity tournaments. On its live news page, you possibly can enter your ZIP code beneath the “Can I watch native information in my space?” query on the backside of the web page to see which native channels you get.

Read our Hulu with Live TV review.

DirecTV’s MySports package deal prices $70 a month and contains ABC, CBS, ESPN Limitless, TBS, TNT and TruTV, which implies it is one of the crucial complete locations to observe each March Insanity recreation. Use the channel lookup tool to see which native channels can be found the place you reside. Learn our DirecTV MySports review.

Fubo’s sports activities package deal prices $46 in your first month after the free trial. Like the first Fubo packages, it provides ABC, CBS and a subscription to ESPN Limitless. Fubo’s Professional plan prices $74 a month and contains ABC, CBS and entry to ESPN Limitless. Fubo is at the moment providing the primary month for $49 on the Professional plan. Click here to see which native channels you get. 
Read our Fubo review.

For extra, try our reside TV streaming companies information and our suggestions for the best sports streaming services.

March Insanity match schedule:

Males’s March Insanity schedule

• First 4: Tuesday-Wednesday
• First Spherical: Thursday-Friday
• Second Spherical: Saturday-Sunday
• Candy 16: March 26-27
• Elite Eight: March 28-29
• Remaining 4: April 4
• Nationwide Championship: April 6, 8:30 p.m. ET (TBS)

Girls’s March Insanity schedule

• First 4: Wednesday-Thursday
• First spherical: Friday-Saturday
• Second spherical: Sunday-Monday
• Candy 16: March 27-28
• Elite Eight: March 29-30
• Remaining 4: April 3 at 7 p.m. ET (Second semifinal begins half-hour after the primary recreation ends.)
• NCAA championship recreation: April 5 at 3:30 p.m. ET (ABC)

March Insanity males’s particular person recreation schedule:

All instances Jap. For accomplished video games, the profitable crew is in daring. 

First 4:

Tuesday

• 6:40 p.m.: No. 16 UMBC (83) vs. (86) No. 16 Howard (TruTV)
• 9:10 p.m.: No. 11 Texas (68) vs. (66) No. 11 NC State (TruTV)

Wednesday

• 6:40 p.m.: No. 16 Prairie View A&M (67) vs. (55) No. 16 Lehigh (TruTV)
• 9:10 p.m.: No. 11 Miami (Ohio) (89) vs. (79) No. 11 SMU (TruTV)

First Spherical:

Thursday

• 12:15 p.m.: No. 8 Ohio State (64) vs. (66) No. 9 TCU (CBS)
• 12:40 p.m.: No. 4 Nebraska (76) vs. (47) No. 13 Troy (TruTV)
• 1:30 p.m.: No. 6 Louisville (83) vs. (79) No. 11 South Florida (TNT)
• 1:50 p.m.: No. 5 Wisconsin (82) vs. (83) No. 12 Excessive Point (TBS)
• 2:50 p.m.: No. 1 Duke (71) vs. (65) No. 16 Siena (CBS)
• 3:15 p.m.: No. 5 Vanderbilt (78) vs. (68) No. 12 McNeese (TruTV)
• 4:05 p.m.: No. 3 Michigan State (92) vs. (67) No. 14 North Dakota State
• 4:25 p.m.: No. 4 Arkansas (97) vs. (78) No. 13 Hawaii (TBS)
• 6:50 p.m.: No. 6 North Carolina (78) vs. (82) No. 11 VCU (TNT)
• 7:10 p.m.: No. 1 Michigan (101) vs. (80) No. 16 Howard (CBS)
• 7:25 p.m.: No. 6 BYU (71) vs. (79) No. 11 Texas (TBS)
• 7:35 p.m.: No. 7 Saint Mary’s (50) vs. (63) No. 10 Texas A&M (TruTV)
• 9:25 p.m.: No. 3 Illinois (105) vs. (70) No. 14 Penn (TNT)
• 9:45 p.m.: No. 8 Georgia (77) vs. (102) No. 9 Saint Louis (CBS)
• 10 p.m.: No. 3 Gonzaga (73) vs. (64) No. 14 Kennesaw State (TBS)
• 10:10 p.m.: No. 2 Houston (78) vs. (47) No. 15 Idaho (TruTV)

Friday

• 12:15 p.m.: No. 7 Kentucky (89) vs. (84) No. 10 Santa Clara (CBS)
• 12:40 p.m.: No. 5 Texas Tech (91) vs. (71) No. 12 Akron (TruTV)
• 1:35 p.m.: No. 1 Arizona (92) vs. (58) No. 16 LIU (TNT)
• 1:50 p.m.: No. 3 Virginia (82) vs. (73) No. 14 Wright State (TBS)
• 2:50 p.m.: No. 2 Iowa State (108) vs. (74) No. 15 Tennessee State (CBS)
• 3:15 p.m.: No. 4 Alabama (90) vs. (70) No. 13 Hofstra (TruTV)
• 4:10 p.m.: No. 8 Villanova (76) vs. (86) No. 9 Utah State (TNT)
• 4:25 p.m.: No. 6 Tennessee (78) vs. (56) No. 11 Miami (Ohio) (TBS)
• 6:50 p.m.: No. 8 Clemson (61) vs. (67) No. 9 Iowa (TNT)
• 7:10 p.m.: No. 5 St. John’s (79) vs. (53) No. 12 Northern Iowa (CBS)
• 7:25 p.m.: No. 7 UCLA (75) vs. (71) No. 10 UCF (TBS)
• 7:35 p.m.: No. 2 Purdue (104) vs. (71) No. 15 Queens (TruTV)
• 9:25 p.m.: No. 16 Prairie View A&M (55) vs. (114) No. 1 Florida (TNT)
• 9:45 p.m.: No. 4 Kansas (68) vs. (60) No. 13 Cal Baptist (CBS)
• 10 p.m.: No. 2 UConn (82) vs. (71) No. 15 Furman (TBS)
• 10:10 p.m.: No. 7 Miami (80) vs. (66) No. 10 Missouri (TruTV)

Second Spherical:

Saturday 

• 12:10 p.m.: No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 9 Saint Louis (CBS)
• 2:45 p.m.: No. 3 Michigan State vs. No. 6 Louisville (CBS)
• 5:15 p.m.: No. 1 Duke vs. No. 9 TCU (CBS)
• 6:10 p.m.: No. 2 Houston vs. No. 10 Texas A&M (TNT)
• 7:10 p.m.: No. 3 Gonzaga vs. No. 11 Texas (TBS)
• 7:50 p.m.: No. 3 Illinois vs. No. 11 VCU (CBS)
• 8:45 p.m.: No. 4 Nebraska vs. No. 5 Vanderbilt (TNT)
• 9:45 p.m: N0. 4 Arkansas vs. No. 12 Excessive Level (TBS)

Sunday

• 12:10 p.m.: No. 2 Purdue vs. No. 7 Miami (Fla.) (CBS)
• 2:45 p.m.: No. 2 Iowa State vs. No. 7 Kentucky (CBS)
• 5:15 p.m.: No. 4 Kansas vs. No. 5 St. John’s (CBS)
• 6:10 p.m.: No. 3 Virginia vs. No. 6 Tennessee (TNT)
• 7:10 p.m.: No. 1 Florida vs. No. 9 Iowa (TBS)
• 7:50 p.m.: No. 1 Arizona vs. No. 9 Utah State (TruTV)
• 8:45 p.m.: No. 2 UConn vs. No. 7 UCLA (TNT)
• 9:45 p.m.: No. 4 Alabama vs. No. 5 Texas Tech (TBS)

March Insanity ladies’s particular person recreation schedule:

All instances Jap.

First 4:

Wednesday

Thursday

First Spherical:

Friday

• 11:30 a.m.: No. 3 Duke (81) vs. (64) No. 14 Charleston (ESPN2)
• 12 p.m.: No. 3 TCU (86) vs. (40) No. 14 UC San Diego (ESPN)
• 1:30 p.m. ET: No. 8 Oregon (70) vs. (62) No. 9 Virginia Tech (ESPN2)
• 2 p.m.: No. 6 Baylor (67) vs. (62) No. 11 Nebraska/Richmond (ESPN)
• 2:30 p.m.: No. 6 Washington (72) vs. (64) No. 11 South Dakota State (ESPN Information)
• 3 p.m.: No. 5 Maryland (99) vs. (67) No. 12 Murray State (ESPNU)
• 3:30 p.m.: No. 5 Ole Miss (81) vs. (66) No. 12 Gonzaga (ESPN2)
• 4 p.m.: No. 1 Texas (87) vs. (45) No. 16 Missouri State (ESPN)
• 5:30 p.m.: No. 2 Michigan (83) vs. (48) No. 15 Holy Cross (ESPN2)
• 5:30 p.m.: No. 4 North Carolina (82) vs. (51) No. 13 Western Illinois (ESPN Information)
• 6 p.m.: No. 2 LSU (116) vs. (58) No. 15 Jacksonville (ESPN)
• 6 p.m.: No. 4 Minnesota (75) vs. (58) No. 13 Inexperienced Bay (ESPNU)
• 7:30 p.m.: No. 5 Michigan State (65) vs. (62) No. 12 Colorado State (ESPN Information)
• 8 p.m.: No. 7 NC State (10) vs. (61) No. 10 Tennessee (ESPN)
• 8:30 p.m.: No. 7 Texas Tech (57) vs. (52) No. 10 Villanova (ESPNU)
• 10 p.m.: No. 4 Oklahoma (89) vs. (59) No. 13 Idaho (ESPN)

Saturday

• 11:30 p.m.: No. 3 Ohio State vs. No. 14 Howard (ESPN2)
• 12 p.m.: No. 3 Louisville vs. No. 14 Vermont (ESPN)
• 1 p.m.: No. 1 South Carolina vs. No. 16 Samford/Southern (ABC)
• 1:30 p.m.: No. 7 Georgia vs. No. 10 Virginia/Arizona State (ESPN2)
• 2 p.m.: No. 6 Notre Dame vs. No. 11 Fairfield (ESPN)
• 2:30 p.m.: No. 5 Kentucky vs. No. 12 James Madison (ESPNU)
• 2:30 p.m.: No. 6 Alabama vs. No. 11 Rhode Island (ESPN Information)
• 3 p.m.: No. 1 UConn vs. No. 16 UTSA (ABC)
• 3:30 p.m.: No. 8 Clemson vs. No. 9 USC (ESPN2)
• 4 p.m.: No. 2 Iowa vs. No. 15 Fairleigh Dickinson (ESPN)
• 5 p.m.: No. 4 West Virginia vs. No. 13 Miami (Ohio) (ESPNU)
• 5:30 p.m.: No. 8 Iowa State vs. No. 9 Syracuse (ESPN2)
• 7 p.m.: No. 2 Vanderbilt vs. No. 15 Excessive Level (ESPN Information)
• 7:30 p.m.: No. 8 Oklahoma State vs. No. 9 Princeton (ESPN2)
• 9:30 p.m.: No. 7 Illinois vs. No. 10 Colorado (ESPN2)
• 10 p.m.: No. 1 UCLA vs. No. 16 California Baptist (ESPN)

Second Spherical:

Sunday

• 12 p.m.: No. 4 North Carolina vs. No. 5 Maryland (ESPN)
• 1 p.m.: No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 7 NC State (ESPN)
• 2 p.m.: No. 4 Minnesota vs. No. 5 Ole Miss (ESPN)
• 3 p.m.: No. 2 LSU vs. No. 7  Texas Tech (ABC)
• 4 p.m.: No. 3 Duke vs. No. 6 Baylor (ESPN)
• 6 p.m.: No. 1 Texas vs. Np. 8 Oregon (ESPN)
• 8 p.m.: No. 5 Michigan State vs. No. 4 Oklahoma (ESPN)
• 10 p.m.: No. 3 TCU vs. No. 6 Washington (ESPN)