March Madness 2025 is just around the corner! In a few days, 68 men’s and women’s college basketball teams will face off in search of becoming national champions. Here’s when the games begin and where to watch them.
When is March Madness 2025?
The March Madness 2025 tournament will begin on Sunday, March 16. Here is the full schedule:
- Selection: Sunday, March 16, 6 p.m. (Eastern Time)
- First Four: March 18 and 19
- First Round: March 20 and 21
- Second Round: March 22 and 23
- Sweet 16: March 27 and 28
- Elite Eight: March 29 and 30
- Final Four: April 5 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas
- NCAA Championship Game: April 7 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas
ALSO READ More than 75,000 bottles of coffee creamer recalled; here’s why
When is the Women’s March Madness tournament?
The women’s tournament will begin with the First Four on Wednesday, March 19. The first round will take place on Friday, March 21, and Saturday, March 22, while the second round will be held on Sunday, March 23, and Monday, March 24.
The Women’s Sweet 16 will be played on Friday, March 28, and Saturday, March 29. The Elite 8 will take place on Sunday, March 30, and Monday, March 31. The Women’s Final Four will be held on Friday, April 4, at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, and the women’s national championship game will be played on Sunday, April 6, at 3 p.m. Eastern Time.
Where to watch March Madness 2025?
All men’s March Madness games will be broadcast on the following channels and platforms:
- CBS
- TBS
- TNT
- TruTV
- Max
- Paramount+
Where will March Madness 2025 be held?
This year, there will be 14 venues for the men’s tournament:
- First Four: Dayton, Ohio
- First/Second Rounds: Lexington, Kentucky; Providence, Rhode Island; Seattle, Washington; Wichita,
- Kansas; Cleveland, Ohio; Denver, Colorado; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Raleigh, North Carolina
- Sweet 16/Elite Eight: Newark, New Jersey; San Francisco, California; Atlanta, Georgia; Indianapolis, Indiana
- Final Four: San Antonio, Texas
For the women’s tournament, the top 16 seeded teams will host the first and second-round games, as well as the First Four. The Women’s Sweet 16/Elite Eight will be held in Birmingham, Alabama, and Spokane, Washington, and the Women’s Final Four will take place in Tampa, Florida.
What is March Madness?
March Madness is a college basketball tournament organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It was first implemented in 1939 thanks to the idea of several coaches, including Harold Olsen of Ohio State University.
How is March Madness played?
The tournament is organized in successive rounds and single-elimination games. The bracket is divided into four regions: East, South, West, and Midwest. Each region crowns a champion who advances to the Final Four after competing in predetermined neutral-site venues.
The tournament format begins with the First Four round, which grants the last four spots to complete the 68-team field. The tournament then continues for three weeks with five more rounds: First Round, Second Round, Sweet 16, Elite 8, and finally the Semifinals and Final Four.
The 68 teams are distributed as follows: 32 spots go to the champions of each of the 32 Division I conferences, automatically earning a spot in the tournament. The remaining 36 spots are awarded by invitation from the NCAA Selection Committee, which announces its decisions during a televised event known as Selection Sunday. After the First Four, teams are placed in the main bracket, with 16 teams in each of the four regions. The seeding is ranked from 1 to 16 within each region, with the #1 seed facing the #16 seed, the #2 seed against the #15 seed, and so on. This ensures that the top two teams in each region can only meet in the regional finals, with a spot in the Final Four on the line.
The NCAA Selection Committee ranks the 68 teams from 1 to 68, which is used to form the bracket: the top four teams are placed in the four regions as the #1 seeds, the next four are the #2 seeds, and so on.
What is the NCAA?
The NCAA, an organization governed by its members, was founded in 1906 to regulate the rules of college sports and protect young athletes.
