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The first weekend of the NCAA Tournament  is a wrap, and now, we prepare for the Sweet 16 of the Big Dance with the Final Four to be determined by Sunday. Are you ready?!

March Madness is heating up across CBS and TBS. 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.

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.

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

Sweet 16

Thursday, March 26
Toyota Center (Houston), SAP Center (San Jose)

Time (ET) Game TV / Stream
7:10 p.m. (11) Texas vs. (2) Purdue || San Jose
Brian Anderson / Jim Jackson // Allie LaForce		 CBS (watch live)
7:30 p.m. (9) Iowa vs. (4) Nebraska || Houston
Kevin Harlan / Robbie Hummel, Stan Van Gundy // Lauren Shehadi		 TBS (watch live)
9:45 p.m. (4) Arkansas vs. (1) Arizona || San Jose
Brian Anderson / Jim Jackson // Allie LaForce		 CBS (watch live)
10:05 p.m. (3) Illinois vs. (2) Houston || Houston
Kevin Harlan / Robbie Hummel, Stan Van Gundy // Lauren Shehadi		 TBS (watch live)

Friday, March 27
United Center (Chicago), Capital One Arena (Washington, D.C.)

Time (ET) Game TV / Stream
7:10 p.m. (5) St. John’s vs. (1) Duke || Washington, D.C.
Ian Eagle / Bill Raftery, Grant Hill // Tracy Wolfson		 CBS (watch live)
7:35 p.m. (5) Texas Tech / (4) Alabama vs. (1) Michigan || Chicago
Andrew Catalon / Steve Lappas // Evan Washburn		 TBS (watch live)
9:45 p.m. (3) Michigan State vs. (3) UConn || Washington, D.C.
Ian Eagle / Bill Raftery, Grant Hill // Tracy Wolfson		 CBS (watch live)
10:10 p.m. (6) Tennessee vs. (2) Iowa State || Chicago
Andrew Catalon / Steve Lappas // Evan Washburn		 TBS (watch live)

Elite Eight

Saturday, March 28 — 6:09 p.m. start (TBS)
Toyota Center (Houston), SAP Center (San Jose)

Sunday, March 29 — 2:15 p.m. start (CBS)
United Center (Chicago), Capital One Arena (Washington, D.C.)