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Are you ready to fill out your March Madness bracket? (Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
It’s March, and you know what that means: the 2025 NCAA tournament — AKA March Madness — is almost here. Selection Sunday is this weekend, Mar. 16. The men's NCAA tournament bracket will be revealed at 6 p.m. ET. You can watch the official start of March Madness on CBS, before the men's First Four games tip off Tuesday on TruTV. Auburn has clearly established itself as the favorite to win the men's NCAA tournament. The chance that the SEC could sweep all four top seeds has faded a bit, but never say never. Here’s what else you should know ahead of Selection Sunday for March Madness 2025.
How to watch Selection Sunday for the men's bracket 2025:
Date: Mar. 16
Time: 6 p.m. ET
TV channel: CBS, ESPN
Streaming: Paramount+ with Showtime, DirecTV Stream and more
When is Selection Sunday?
The madness begins on Selection Sunday (Mar. 16) with the Selection Committee revealing the full NCAA tournament bracket for both the men's and women's NCAA teams. The men's bracket will be revealed at 6 p.m. ET.
Selection Sunday channel:
Selection Sunday will see the men’s bracket unveiled at 6 p.m. ET on CBS. You can also catch the men's brakcet reveal on ESPN, where the women's reveal will follow shortly after.
How to watch Selection Sunday:
Paramount+ has two tiers available: an $8/month ad-supported tier and a $13/month premium tier that’s ad-free and includes live access to your local CBS channel (and access to Showtime) — which you'll need to stream select March Madness games.
Right now, Paramount+ is still offering a free trial — so new subscribers could sign up to watch Selection Sunday and the First Four, plus check out the rest of the Paramount+ library free for seven days.
When does March Madness start?
Both the men’s and women’s NCAA tournament brackets will be revealed on Sunday, Mar. 16. The men's games then tip off with the First Four on Tuesday, Mar. 18.
What channel is March Madness on?
Games in the men’s NCAA tournament will air across CBS, TBS, TNT and TruTV. The women’s NCAA tournament will air across the ESPN suite — so ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPNews.
Don’t have cable? Don’t worry. You can stream the men’s games easily with a subscription to Paramount+ and Max, or a live TV streaming service like DirecTV, Fubo or Sling. The women’s games will also be accessible via a live TV streaming service that includes the ESPN suite.
How to watch March Madness 2025:
Max, AKA "the one to watch," has select live sports available through its Bleacher Report Sports add-on, which is included free of charge for ad-free Max subscribers. (If you currently subscribe to Max's ad-supported plan, you should be able to access the B/R add-on content until March 30).
On top of March Madness games on TBS, TNT and TruTV, Max has buzzy shows including The White Lotus, The Last of Us, House of the Dragon, Dune: Prophecy and more.
Ad-supported Max starts at $10/month. The Standard plan (which includes B/R Sports free of charge) costs $17/month.
While Sling doesn't offer a free trial these days, since March Madness lasts longer than your standard trial would, anyway, it ends up being a solid option to catch most games in the tournament. Emphasis on most, because one big blindspot for Sling is that it doesn't carry CBS.
That being said, for $48 for your first month of Sling Orange and Blue + the Sports Extra add-on, you can catch all the games on TBS, TNT, TruTV, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPNews. That means you'll catch a lot of both the men's and women's games this month.
2025 NCAA tournament schedule:
The tournament will kick off with Selection Sunday, but we won't see any action on the court until Mar. 18.
2025 March Madness men’s schedule:
Selection Sunday: 6 p.m. ET, Sunday, March 16 (CBS)
First Four: March 18-19 (TruTV)
First round: March 20-21 (CBS, TBS, TNT, TruTV)
Second round: March 22-23 (CBS, TBS, TNT, TruTV)
Sweet 16: March 27-28 (CBS, TBS)
Elite Eight: March 29-30 (CBS, TBS)
Final Four: April 5 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas (CBS)
NCAA championship game: April 7 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas (CBS)
2025 March Madness women’s schedule:
Selection Sunday: 8 p.m. ET, Sunday, March 16 (ESPN)
First Four: March 19-20 (ESPN2, ESPNU)
First round: March 21-22 (ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU)
Second round: March 23-24 (ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU)
Sweet 16: March 28-29 (ESPN, ESPN2)
Elite Eight: March 30-31 (ESPN)
Final Four: Friday, April 4 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida (ESPN, ESPN+)
NCAA championship game: Sunday, April 6 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida (ESPN3, ESPN+)
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