The 2023 Men’s March Madness Schedule and How to Watch Every Game
Everywhere you go people are talking about seeds, bubble teams, brackets, and the Final Four, which can only mean one thing — March Madness is almost here. And with the tournament comes the insane schedule of 67 games squeezed into the space of 3 weeks.
The 2023 NCAA Collegiate Basketball tournament kicks off on March 14 and finishes on April 3 with the National Championship in Houston. If you haven’t circled the key dates in your calendar and taken time off work, we’ll let you know the whats and whens of the 2023 Men’s March Madness schedule. We also have a list of TV channels and streaming services broadcasting the games!
Table of Contents
All You Need to Know About the March Madness 2023 ScheduleWhere Can You Watch and Stream the 2023 March Madness?
Stream March Madness Men’s Basketball Championship Using PIA VPN
FAQ
All You Need to Know About the March Madness 2023 Schedule
The 2023 NCAA’s March Madness men’s basketball kicks off on March 14 in Dayton, Ohio. The tournament runs all the way through to April 3 when National Championship takes place in Houston, Texas.
| Date | Round | City, State | Venue |
| March 14 & 15 | First Four | Dayton, OH | UD Arena |
| March 16 & 18 |
First/Second Rounds | Birmingham, AL | Legacy Arena |
| March 16 & 18 |
First/Second Rounds | Des Moines, IA | Wells Fargo Arena |
| March 16 & 18 |
First/Second Rounds | Orlando, FL | Amway Center |
| March 16 & 18 |
First/Second Rounds | Sacramento, CA | Golden 1 Center |
| March 17 & 19 |
First/Second Rounds | Albany, NY | MVP Arena |
| March 17 & 19 |
First/Second Rounds | Columbus, OH | Nationwide Arena |
| March 17 & 19 |
First/Second Rounds | Denver, CO | Ball Arena |
| March 17 & 19 |
First/Second Rounds | Greensboro, NC | Greensboro Coliseum |
| March 23 & 25 |
West Regional | Las Vegas, NV | T-Mobile Arena |
| March 23 & 25 |
East Regional | New York, NY | Madison Square Garden |
| March 24 & 26 |
Midwest Regional | Kansas City, MO | T-Mobile Center |
| March 24 & 26 |
South Regional | Louisville, KY | KFC Yum! Center |
| April 1 & 3 |
Final Four and National Championship | Houston, TX | NRG Stadium |
Don’t forget to check the March Madness 2023 TV schedule at least one day before each game to find out which TV station shows it and at what time. You can also keep an eye out on ESPN’s website to find out specific times and channels.
If you like to have a physical March Madness 2023 schedule reminder to stick on your fridge, print out the official NCAA basketball bracket. It has dates for every stage of the men’s b-ball championship and you can use it to keep track of your bets, too!
Where Can You Watch and Stream the 2023 March Madness?
NCAA’s Official March Madness Live Player
Though many TV channels also hold broadcasting rights to the tournament, they take turns showing selected stages of the championship. NCAA’s live player is a US-exclusive platform which broadcasts all March Madness games live in one place. This saves you from switching between TV channels to find tournament streams and potentially missing legendary three-pointers.
However, you need to have an active TV subscription to use it as the NCAA requires you to log in using your TV provider. Without it, you won’t even glimpse the play button — but don’t worry, you can still stream March Madness using other methods.
TV Channels Broadcasting NCAA Games
If you don’t want to stream March Madness men’s games online, use your existing TV satellite dish to watch the championships. We found multiple channels broadcasting the games in the US, Canada, UK, and Australia, giving you an easy way to watch basketball on the big screen without internet access.
| TV Channel | Country |
| CBS | US |
| TNT | US |
| TBS | US |
| truTV | US |
| ESPN | US |
| TSN | Canada |
| BT Sport | UK |
| Channel 7 | Australia |
Keep in mind CBS, TNT, TBS, and truTV take turns broadcasting select March Madness games. The streaming schedule looks different every year and depends on current licensing agreements. This year, CBS will show a majority of the tournament, except some games during the first/second rounds and regionals. This is due to the fact all four channels share coverage of these stages — but the details are yet to be announced.
Also note Channel 7 in Australia covers a very limited amount of NCAA basketball games, not the entire March Madness tournament. If you’d like to catch every buzzer beater, stream basketball on Kayo Sports instead.
Streaming Platforms Showing March Madness Live
Don’t have a satellite dish? No problem! Multiple streaming services offer CBS, TNT, TBS, and truTV in their channel lineups. All you need to do is subscribe to one of the services below before March Madness is scheduled to start.
| Platform | Country | Subscription Price | Free Trial |
| Paramount+ | Worldwide | $4.99/mo or $9.99/mo | 7 days |
| ESPN Player | Worldwide (may be available only via other services, like Foxtel) |
From $9.99/mo or $99.99/year | X |
| fuboTV | US | From $74.99/mo | 7 days |
| Sling TV | US | $40/mo or $55/mo | X |
| DirecTV | US | From $64.99/mo | 5 days |
| Hulu + Live TV | US | From $69.99/mo | 30 days |
| YouTube TV | US | $64.99/mo | 2 days |
| BT Sport | UK | $36/mo | X |
| Kayo Sports | Australia | From $25/month | 7 days |
How to Watch March Madness for Free
Though it’s not possible to watch March Madness completely for free, you can take advantage of a free trial on a basketball-streaming platform. Hulu comes with the longest trial of 30 days, which is enough to keep up with the NCAA until the new champion is crowned.
If you already pay for TV satellite through DirecTV, DISH, or another provider, you won’t need to fork out more money either as CBS covers March Madness for free. So though it’s not technically free as you’re paying for a service, it saves you from pay-per-view charges.
While some shady websites promote free unofficial March Madness streams, these are never a good option. Cybercrooks often create fake platforms with unlicensed free NCAA streams, which you can only use after providing personal details. Once you notice it’s a scam, attackers have already run with your data, putting you at risk of identity theft.
Make Streaming March Madness a Breeze With PIA VPN
NCAA’s men’s basketball is filled with unmissable moments from the first jump ball. Yet, online disturbances are better shot-blockers than Jamarion Sharp. You might deal with ISP throttling, network blocks, and even cybercriminals — all before the end of the first quarter. Luckily, you can avoid every basketball fan’s nightmare and stream March Madness as it deserves to be streamed.
PIA is engineered for streaming sports with the fastest VPN speeds and military-grade VPN encryption. Connecting to our servers instantly reroutes your traffic, masking your IP address and wrapping your data in layers of protection. This stops your ISP from throttling your connection based on your usage and bypasses network blocks in public spaces, like offices and schools.
Unlike filling in a bracket, PIA comes with absolutely no risk. You can download PIA to enjoy March Madness’ hectic schedule buffer-free and make the most of our 30-day money-back guarantee. If you change your mind, we’ll process your refund. No small print!
Stream March Madness Men’s Basketball Championship Using PIA VPN
The 2023 March Madness schedule is intense, but so is our love for all things basketball. Clear your calendar and get ready to watch the best college basketball starting March 14. Will Alabama take the crown this year or will Houston keep the title for the second year running? And most importantly, will your bracket bust early or take you all the way to the final? One thing’s for sure — you don’t want to miss a second of the tournament.
In your preparations for the games, don’t forget about a VPN. This is a guaranteed way to ditch streaming interruptions and cybercriminals who target high-profile sporting events. Use PIA VPN to enjoy March Madness to the fullest! We shield your data from snoopers, and block throttling, buffering, and streaming errors. Our 30-day money-back guarantee means you can even try it with basketball streams risk-free!
FAQ
The March Madness schedule this year starts on March 14 in Dayton, Ohio with the First Four games. The first and second rounds take place on March 16-19, then the tournament moves on to Sweet 16 and Elite Eight on March 23-26. Final Four begins on April 1, with the national champions crowned on April 3.
Connect to PIA’s VPN servers before every game to make sure you don’t get cut off from the gameplay. Your traffic benefits from unlimited bandwidth and the fastest VPN speeds, helping you swerve past unfair buffering, lags, and other interruptions.
This depends on the country you’re streaming from. US viewers have the biggest choice with CBS, TNT, TBS, and truTV covering the NCAA men’s basketball championships. If you’re in Canada, you can tune in on TSN, while UK fans should watch March Madness on BT Sport. Channel 7 and Kayo Sport show March Madness men’s games in Australia, too.
Yes, CBS has the broadcasting rights for the 2023 March Madness Final Four. This is good news as the platform is available through many TV providers and streaming platforms without additional charges.
In even better news, PIA VPN works with all streaming websites offering CBS in their lineups. This means you can safely stream sports live, including March Madness, on fuboTV, Sling TV, DirecTV, and more.
Yes — we even strongly recommend it as you can use PIA to improve your March Madness streams. When you connect to PIA’s servers, we mask your traffic and what you use it for from any third parties. This means you don’t have to deal with buffering, streaming errors, or being cut off from the games at any point.
If you need more information on how PIA works with March Madness, reach out to our 24/7 Customer Support. They’ll answer any question you might have, from setting PIA up on your devices to making the most of your connection.
