March Madness: Stream Every Match Live Without Cable [2023]

Each March, the top NCAA men’s and women’s basketball teams compete in a series of knock-out games toward the goal of winning the national championship. And cord-cutters can watch March Madness online, even without cable. Read on to learn how!

In a hurry? Not all streaming services provide all the channels you need to see everything. But these do that and much more.

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March Madness is one of the most popular sporting events in the United States. In fact, the Men’s Final Four sometimes draws higher television ratings than any NBA Finals game played that year.

However, the men’s and women’s tournaments are not just focused on Finals weekend. You’ll see office March Madness pools springing up everywhere with three weeks of thrilling do-or-die play by 68 men’s and 68 women’s teams.

Quick March Madness Streaming Guide

CBS and Turner Sports will broadcast the men’s tournament while ESPN oversees the broadcasting of the women’s events. Options to stream most if not all of both tournaments include Hulu + Live TV ($76.99/mo), DIRECTV STREAM ($79.99/mo), Sling TV ($40.00/mo), and YouTube TV ($72.99/mo).

Jump to our full March Madness streaming guide.

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About NCAA Basketball Tournaments

The NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament has a storied history that starts in 1939, when University of Oregon outlasted Ohio State, 46-33. This first national title game was played on the Northwestern campus in Evanston, Illinois.

It has always had a single-elimination format although the size of the field has increased over the years. Just eight teams competed in 1939 compared to 68 schools that will take part in 2023.

The history of the NCAA Division I Women’s Tournament is not as lengthy, but that has a lot to do with the NCAA only taking women’s basketball under its umbrella as recently as the 1981-82 season.

Women’s sports, in general, became more prominent in the early 1970s. The first AIAW Women’s Basketball Tournament was played in 1972 and featured Immaculata kickstarting a three-peat.

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How Do the College Basketball Tournaments Work?

Starting in 2022, both the men’s and women’s tournaments will once again have the same format. They had both been 64-team affairs from 1994-2000, but the men’s increased to 65 through 2010 and has been at 68 since. Similarly, the women’s field stayed at 64 through 2021 before increasing to 68 for the 2022 tourney to belatedly put the women’s teams on equal footing with the men’s.

The men’s tournament expansion to 68 teams was presumably done in connection with the agreement of a new television contract at around that time. More games result in more revenue for CBS and Turner Sports. Some coaches have voiced happiness that more schools receive the opportunity to participate in the bracket.

The First Fours

The First Fours, the stage of the tournament featuring the last eight teams into the brackets, will take place mid-week the first week of March Madness, Tuesday and Wednesday for the men and Wednesday and Thursday for the women.

The next four days for each will be the first and second rounds as the fields get whittled to 16 apiece. These men’s games will be at neutral sites with the women’s contests at the top 16 seeds.

Tournament Semifinals and Finals

Exactly a week after those four days will be the regional semifinals and finals. All March Madness games will be played at predetermined sites. That will be followed by the Final Fours the week after, the women playing on that Friday and Sunday and the men on that Saturday and Monday.

When the Brackets Are Set For March Madness

However, before any of that happens, the brackets need to be filled with these 136 teams. That is done the Sunday that precedes the opening contests. Thirty-two men’s and 32 women’s teams earn automatic berths after winning their respective conference tournaments, and the remainder are chosen as at-large teams with most of those coming from Power 5 conferences.

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Unblock Your Favorite Events & Teams With a VPN

If you can’t watch your favorite events or teams because of your location, a VPN will allow you to get the access you are entitled to, plus extra security and unequaled privacy. Check out our VPN Guide for everything you need to know, including our top pick ExpressVPN.

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Other brands worth checking out include Hotspot Shield and CyberGhost.

TV Channels for March Madness

The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament is televised on CBS, TBS, TNT, and truTV. CBS and TBS essentially receive equal billing, rotating broadcasting the Final Four and the regional semifinals and finals. TNT and truTV alone show the First Fours as well as some of First and Second round games.

The NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament is on ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU while ABC also showed some games during March Madness 2021. It is unknown if ABC will broadcast games in 2022 and beyond. Meanwhile, the 2021 Women’s Final Four was broadcast in its entirety on ESPN while ESPN2.

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How to Watch March Madness Online

Several streaming TV providers offer partial or complete coverage of these two tournaments. You can also see a number of games on CBS via an antenna. See below.

DIRECTV STREAM Channels For March Madness

The base DIRECTV STREAM (formerly AT&T TV) plan ($79.99/mo) will give you all of the channels that will broadcast the men’s games (CBS, TBS, TNT, truTV) and most of the women’s games (ABC, ESPN, ESPN2). If you also want ESPNU, you will need to go up to the Choice plan ($108.99/mo). At this level, you will also get access to its outstanding selection of RSNs, which are essential for MLB, NBA, and NHL fans.

All plans come with unlimited DVR storage as long as you sign-up online and simultaneous streaming on up to 20 devices at home and 3 on the road. For more information, see our DIRECTV STREAM review.

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Watch the Tournament on Hulu + Live TV

Hulu + Live TV ($76.99/mo) is an outstanding option for watching all of the March Madness possible as it carries CBS, TBS, TNT, truTV, ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU in its base plan.

It also provides access to the ACC Network, Big Ten Network, CBS Sports Network, Fox Sports 1 (FS1), Fox Sports 2 (FS2), and SEC Network. All of these are great for watching teams battle to get into these brackets.

Finally, Hulu Live includes the Hulu Bundle: its great on-demand library, Disney+, and ESPN+.

The plan comes with unlimited cloud DVR (9 month storage) and streaming on up to two devices at once. See our Hulu + Live TV review for more details.

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Sling TV’s March Madness Plan

Sling Orange ($40.00/mo) is an imperfect option as it does not offer CBS, truTV, or ESPNU although you can get truTV with its Blue plan ($55.00/mo to combine the plans) and ESPNU through its Sports Extra add-on ($11/mo if added to the Orange plan, $15/mo if added to the combined plan).

Also note that a Sling TV sometimes allows Orange plan subscribers to access truTV during the tournament and that you can get CBS games with Paramount+ ($4.99/mo).

See our complete guide and schedule for March Madness on Sling TV for more info.

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Watch the Tournament on CBS via Antenna

Since CBS is an over-the-air (OTA) channel, an alternative is to combine a Sling TV subscription with an antenna. This can be done without a streaming service, of course. See our antenna guide for details. But with Sling, you can set it up so that it all works seamlessly through the app. And if you pay for 3 months upfront, Sling will give you the equipment at a ridiculously low price.

For more information on all this, see our Sling TV review.

FuboTV’s March Madness Channels

An even more imperfect option is FuboTV ($74.99/mo) as it is missing all Turner Sports channels, so no TBS, TNT, or truTV and no Men’s Final Four in even years. Plus, even if you are solely focused on the women’s tournament, you will need to pay for either its Fubo Extra add-on ($7.99/mo) or its Sports Plus with NFL RedZone add-on ($10.99/mo) to also garner access to ESPNU.

But if March Madness is just part of your live sports diet, FuboTV is worth a look given that it features 110+ channels that are especially good for international events. Its plans come with 1000 hours of cloud DVR and streaming on up to ten devices. Our FuboTV review has more information.

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NCAA Tournament on YouTube TV

YouTube TV ($72.99/mo) is a solid option as it offers access to CBS, TBS, TNT, truTV, ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU, ensuring that you can watch every men’s and women’s tournament game. Meanwhile, if you are looking for regular-season coverage of college basketball, note that it carries the ACC Network, Big Ten Network, SEC Network, FS1, and FS2 as well.

Paramount+ Options to Watch March Madness

If you do not have an antenna, for $4.99/mo, you can get Paramount+ (previously CBS All Access). It is an on-demand streaming service but it does feature live sports and will allow you to stream CBS-broadcast NCAA Tournament games.

However, note that that is where its usefulness ends as it does not have the rights to show any of the games airing on TBS, TNT, or truTV, which sometimes includes the Men’s Final Four as TBS owns those broadcasting rights in even years.

See our Paramount+ review.

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Watch the NCAA Tournament With the March Madness Live App

The NCAA March Madness Live app allows you to watch men’s tournament games, but you do need to sign in with log-in details for an applicable streaming service that offers the relevant channels.

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Superpower Your Sports Streaming With a VPN

For the sake of privacy, security, and access, you should be using a VPN. They are low-cost and easy to use. We’ve been using them for years and our top pick is ExpressVPN. Other brands worth checking out include Hotspot Shield and CyberGhost.

i	Our VPN Buyer’s Guide provides a complete introduction and all you need to know to choose the best VPN for your needs.

Devices to Live Stream March Madness

All of the services we’ve discussed support the major streaming devices in use today. DIRECTV STREAM has the weakest support. It offers its own device but you can also use:

The other services (including FuboTV, Sling TV, and March Madness Live) also support Android TV, LG, and VIZIO smart TVs as well as Xbox gaming systems. Hulu, YouTube, and Paramount+ also support PlayStations.

Other devices are supported. You can find complete lists in our reviews.

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March Madness TV Schedule 2023

Games start on March 14th and run through the first week of April, with the National Championships airing on April 3rd (women’s) and April 4th (men’s).

Here are the key dates:

• Selection Sunday: March 12
• First Four: March 14 – 16
• First/Second Rounds: March 16 – 20
• Sweet 16/Elite 8: March 23 – 27
• Final Four: March 31 (women’s) and April 1 (men’s)
• NCAA Championships: Sun April 2 (women’s) and Mon Apr 3 (men’s)
• Channels: CBS, TBS, TNT, and truTV

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2023 Men’s March Madness Results

All times are EDT.

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2023 Women’s March Madness Results

Coming soon!

• Mar 12: Selections (ESPN)
• Mar 15: First Four (2 games)
• Mar 16: First Four (2 games)
• Mar 17: First Round (Group 1 — 16 games)
• Mar 18: First Round (Group 2 — 16 games)
• Mar 19: Second Round (Group 1 — 8 games)
• Mar 20: Second Round (Group 2 — 8 games)
• Mar 24: Regional (4 game)
• Mar 25: Regional (4 game)
• Mar 26: Regional (2 game)
• Mar 27: Regional (2 game)
• Mar 31: National Semifinals (2 games)
• Apr 2: National Championship Game.

All times are EDT.

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Wrapping Up

If you are looking to receive streaming access to all men’s and women’s tournament games, your best option is Hulu + Live TV ($76.99/mo). DIRECTV STREAM ($79.99/mo) and Sling TV ($40.00/mo) — either with an antenna or Paramount+ — will also work.

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FAQs

What channels are March Madness on?

The men’s March Madness games will air on truTV, TBS, TNT, and CBS. This year, the final three games (Final Four and Championship) will air exclusively on CBS. The women’s March Madness games will air on the ESPN family of channels. These are primarily ESPNU and ESPN2 although some games will be on ESPN and ESPNews. The Final Four will air on ESPN and the Championship on ESPNU.

Can I watch March Madness live for free?

You can watch many of the men’s March Madness games for free with CBS. You will need an OTA antenna, which cost little money (roughly $30) and are easy to install. The games that do not appear on CBS will be on one of the Turner channels (TBS, TNT, truTV) and so you will need to get them through a streaming service like Sling TV. The CBS games you can watch for free are:

• First Four: 0 games (out of 4)
• First Round: 8 games (out of 32)
• Second Round: 7 games (out of 16)
• Sweet Sixteen: 4 games (out of 8)
• Final Four: 2 games (out of 2)
• Championship: 1 game (out of 1)

The women’s March Madness games will air on the ESPN family of channels. In general, you will need a streaming service for these. But 6 games will appear on ABC, which you should be able to watch for free with an antenna. These include 2 First Round, 2 Second Round, 1 Sweet Sixteen, and the Championship game.

Bottom line: you can watch 28 games for free with an inexpensive digital antenna!

Can I watch March Madness on the NCAA.com app?

You can watch all the games on the NCAA March Madness Live (the NCAA.com app). To do so, you will need a provider like Sling TV that allows you to log in via TV Everywhere. It isn’t a free service. Ironically, you will probably want to watch live games directly through your provider. But the app gives you access to a lot of other content on demand like highlights, analysis, and classic games.

What is the March Madness bracket?

The bracket for March Madness is the list of matchups that culminate in the selection of the two teams who will play in the finals. The bracket is used to track each team’s progress through the tournament via wins (advancement to the next stage) and losses (elimination). Additionally, the term “bracket” is often used to describe the teams a person selects when participating in a March Madness pool.

How can I watch March Madness on my phone?

All of the streaming services that carry the NCAA Basketball Tournaments have apps that you can install on your Android or iOS devices, including Hulu + Live TV, DIRECTV STREAM, Sling TV, and YouTube TV. You can download the apps on the Google Play store or the iOS App Store. Additionally, channels like CBS and ESPN have standalone apps that you can use to watch the games on your device.

What were the results of the 2022 NCAA Basketball Tournaments?

On the men’s side of March Madness, the Final Four came down to contests between the Duke Blue Devils vs the North Carolina Tar Heels and the Villanova Wildcats vs the Kansas Jayhawks. Kansas defeated North Carolina in the final in a very close game, 72-69.

The South Carolina Gamecocks dominated the NCAA in 2022. They easily defeated the Louisville Cardinals during the Final Four. The UConn Huskies and Stanford Cardinal were much more evenly matched, with the Huskies pulling out the win. But the Gamecocks easily defeated UConn in the final.

How can I watch my favorite team throughout the regular season?

Looking for team-specific streaming info? Here are guides for the most popular college basketball teams:

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Frank Moraes

Frank Moraes is Content Editor at HotDog.com. He specializes in streaming, sports, and technology. You can see his writing on low-budget and "weird" film at Psychotronic Review — and many other places.

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