It’s almost March Madness. This Sunday, March 15, the brackets for the 2026 NCAA Tournament will be announced. The Women’s 68 field will air live on ESPN at 8 p.m. ET. The men’s match will air on CBS at 6 p.m. before the women’s match is revealed. Like last year, both games are spread across multiple channels, so if you’re looking for how to watch March Madness (other than picking a Sunday), Yahoo Sports has you covered. Here’s everything you need to know to watch this weekend’s NCAA Women’s Championship Selection Sunday live broadcast, plus how to watch March Madness in 2026.
How to watch Sunday’s selection:
date: Sunday, March 15, 2026
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time: 8 p.m. ET
TV channel: ESPN
Streaming media: ESPN Unlimited, DirecTV and more
When is March Madness Selection Sunday?
The madness begins on Sunday, March 15, when the selection committee releases the full slate of NCAA men’s and women’s teams. The women’s roster will be announced at 8 p.m. ET. The men’s game will be played before the women’s game at 6 p.m. ET.
Choose a Sunday TV channel:
Women’s March Madness bracket reveals will be broadcast live on ESPN. The men’s match reveal will air on CBS.
How to watch Sunday Featured live without cable TV:
ESPN’s streaming platform offers thousands of exclusive live events, original studio programming and critically acclaimed series across ESPN’s seven linear channels, as well as exclusive content on ESPN+, ABC on ESPN, SEC+, ACCNX and more. This level costs $29.99/month or $299.99/year.
ESPN Select gives subscribers access to exclusive content available only on the app as well as an extensive archive of on-demand content (including the entire 30 For 30 library, select ESPN Movies, game replays and more). Whether you buy a standalone plan, an add-on plan, or a Disney bundle, the service offers access to thousands of sports for $12.99/month or $129.99/year.
DirecTV currently offers its Choice plans (usually $115+ per month, including fees) for just $80 for the first month, before fees.
DirecTV’s Choice tier gives you access to a plethora of sports channels, including ESPN, ACC Network, Big Ten Network, SEC Network and a host of local regional sports networks. In addition, you can watch programs from ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox.
No matter which plan you choose, you’ll get unlimited Cloud DVR storage and access to ESPN’s new streaming tier, ESPN Unlimited.
The best part is, you can currently try all of them for free for 5 days. If you’re interested in trying a live TV streaming service when March Madness starts but aren’t quite ready to commit yet, we recommend starting with DirecTV.
When does March Madness start?
Brackets for the men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments will be announced on Sunday, March 15. The men’s tournament will begin with the Final Four on Tuesday, March 17. The women’s competition will begin on Wednesday, March 18.
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What channel will March Madness air on in 2026?
Men’s NCAA tournament games will be televised on CBS, TBS, TNT and TruTV. The women’s NCAA tournament will be televised on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNNews and ABC.
No cable? Don’t worry. You can easily watch the men’s game by subscribing to Paramount+ Premium and HBO Max Standard or a live TV streaming service like DirecTV, Fubo or Sling. The women’s game can be watched with an ESPN Unlimited subscription (or any live TV streaming service that includes the ESPN suite).
