2026 March Madness TV schedule for first round: Tip times, announcers, where to watch NCAA Tournament games

The First Four is a wrap, and now, we prepare for the start of the 2026 NCAA Tournament in earnest with the first round being contested across 32 games over the next two days. Are you ready?!

March Madness revs up for real starting Thursday with all 67 games of the men's tournament broadcast across CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV. Paramount+ subscribers will be able to watch every game airing on CBS, while the March Madness Live app will have every game, period. There's also HBO Max, which carries all the games going up on TBS, TNT and truTV.

Clock is ticking for Brackets! Get back in your pools and enter our Bracket Challenge for your chance to win a dream trip to the 2027 Final FourⓇ.

CBS will carry a significant load of tournament inventory, broadcasting 21 games up to the Elite Eight. Since this is an even year, TBS will broadcast the Final Four along with games across the prior four rounds.

While No. 1 seeds Duke and Michigan will be in action Thursday, some of the other notable games to follow include (8) Ohio State vs. (9) TC to start the day, (6) North Carolina vs. (11) VCU in the early evening and (8) Georgia vs. (9) Saint Louis in the late evening. 

Below are the announcing teams, channel assignments and tip times for every first-round game on Thursday and Friday. Keep checking back through the weekend as the March Madness TV schedule below will be updated every night when the new sets of tip times become available.

2026 March Madness announcing teams

Play-by-Play | Analyst(s) || Reporter
* Regional Weekend announce teams | ~ Final Four team

• Ian Eagle | Bill Raftery, Grant Hill || Tracy Wolfson*~
• Brian Anderson (Jason Benetti) | Jim Jackson || Allie LaForce*
• Kevin Harlan | Robbie Hummel, Stan Van Gundy || Lauren Shehadi*
• Andrew Catalon | Steve Lappas || Evan Washburn*
• Brad Nessler | Wally Szczerbiak || Jared Greenberg
• Spero Dedes | Jim Spanarkel || Jon Rothstein
  
• Tom McCarthy | Candice Parker, Dan Bonner || AJ Ross
• Brandon Gaudin | Chris Webber || Andy Katz
• Rules analyst: Gene Steratore

2026 NCAA Tournament schedule, dates

First round

Thursday, March 19
KeyBank Center (Buffalo), Bon Secours Wellness Arena (Greenville), Paycom Center (Oklahoma City), Moda Center (Portland)

Friday, March 20
Benchmark International Arena (Tampa), Xfinity Mobile Arena (Philadelphia), Viejas Arena (San Diego), Enterprise Center (St. Louis)

Second round

Saturday, March 21 -- 12:10 p.m. start (CBS, TBS, TNT, truTV)
KeyBank Center (Buffalo), Bon Secours Wellness Arena (Greenville), Paycom Center (Oklahoma City), Moda Center (Portland)

Sunday, March 22 -- 12:10 p.m. start (CBS, TBS, TNT, truTV)
Benchmark International Arena (Tampa), Xfinity Mobile Arena (Philadelphia), Viejas Arena (San Diego), Enterprise Center (St. Louis)