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The 2024 March Madness season is in full swing! After a thrilling First and Second Round, the NCAA March Madness Basketball moves into the Sweet 16 with the top 16 teams left in the tournament on Thursday, March 28 and Friday, March 29.
The basketball tournament ends with the NCAA Championship Game at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona on Friday, April 8 at 6:20 p.m. PT/9:20 p.m. ET. Learn more about NCAA March Madness Basketball Tournament, along with brackets info here.
At a glance: Watch NCAA March Madness Sweet 16 online
How to Watch NCAA March Madness Sweet 16 Basketball Tournament: Date, Time
March Madness moves into the Sweet 16 starting on Thursday, March 28 at 4:09 p.m. PT/7:09 p.m. ET with No. 6-ranked Clemson vs. No. 2-ranked Arizona. And starting on Friday, March 29, No. 11-ranked NC State vs. No. 2-ranked Marquette — both games are on CBS.
Related: The Best TVs for Watching Sports
The winners of the Sweet 16 will move on to the Elite Eight of the tournament on Saturday, March 30 and Sunday, March 31. Although it’s illegal to stream games on StreamEast, you can watch games legally across truTV, TBS, CBS, as well as Max and Paramount+.
Cord-cutters can watch games through any live TV streaming service that carries Turner Broadcast System channels and broadcast network CBS, such as DirecTV Stream, Hulu + Live TV, Sling and others. Sign up for a seven-day free trial from Fubo to watch CBS for free. All web-based services are accessible on your smartphone, tablet, laptop or smart TV.
Keep reading to find out how to watch the NCAA March Madness Basketball Tournament with and without a cable subscription, including more details on how to watch the game for free. You can find the college basketball schedule and where to buy last-minute tickets.
How to Stream NCAA March Madness Sweet 16 Basketball Tournament Without Cable
While the NCAA March Madness Basketball Tournament broadcasts on TV across truTV, TBS and CBS, the games can also be streamed on internet-based streaming cable services, some of which even offer free trials. If you act fast and sign up now, you can watch the games online for free. Learn more about how to stream the NCAA March Madness games below.
Max
Max (formerly known as HBO Max) has a B/R Sports hub as part of its streaming service for a limited time. The hub has access to March Madness games with truTV and TBS starting at $5.83 per month when you pay for a year of service up front — about $70 per year, or over 40 percent off its regular price. But act fast and sign up now, this deal expires on April 9 at the end of March Madness.
In addition to March Madness, Max’s B/R Sports includes NBA on TNT, NHL on TNT, U.S. Soccer, NCAA March Madness and much more. The service also has hit movies like Barbie, Blue Beetle, Avatar: The Way of Water, and others, as well as award-winning series, such as Succession, Barry, The White Lotus and more.
Max is also available as an add-on channel on Prime Video.
Paramount+
Paramount+ has a livestream of CBS’s March Madness coverage and games, and you can watch the matches for free when you sign up for a seven-day free trial.
Afterward, you can either cancel the streaming service altogether or you can keep watching on Paramount+ for $5.99 per month for the basic ad-supported plan. If you want to go ad-free, the Paramount+ with Showtime package is $11.99 per month. Meanwhile, you can save 16 percent on your Paramount+ subscription when you sign up for an annual package ($60 or $120 per year, respectively).
Subscriptions come with access to thousands of hours of movies and TV series, including Sonic the Hedgehog 2, South Park: The Streaming Wars, the entire Star Trek franchise, Yellowstone prequel show 1883 and more.
Paramount+ on Prime Video
Paramount+ is also available as an add-on channel on Prime Video. Amazon Prime members and new subscribers can get a free seven-day trial for Paramount+ on Prime Video ($14.99 per month for the standalone service); after that, it auto-renews at $11.99 per month in addition to the Prime or Prime Video membership fees.
Not a Prime member? Sign up for a 30-day free trial to take advantage of all that Amazon Prime has to offer, including access to Prime Video; fast same-, next-, or two-day free shipping; in-store discounts at Whole Foods Market, access to exclusive shopping events — like Prime Day and Black Friday — and more.
DirecTV Stream
Watch the NCAA March Madness Basketball Tournament on truTV, TBS and CBS with DirecTV Stream. Both networks are offered on all of the cable alternative’s packages, and the service includes more than 75 other channels — such as NBC, ABC, Fox, AMC, Bravo, CNBC, Disney Channel and much more.
Pricing starts as low as $69.99 for the entry-level Entertainment package. In addition, other plans offer between 105-150 channels with prices ranging from $84.99 to $159.99 per month. New subscribers can receive a Visa rewards card worth up to $200 for a limited time. Learn more about the offer here.
Hulu + Live TV
You can also livestream the NCAA March Madness Basketball Tournament online without cable with a Hulu + Live TV subscription. It includes access to over 90 live channels — like truTV, TBS, CBS and others — starting at $76.99 monthly. The service also comes with Hulu’s entire streaming library, Disney+ and ESPN+ at no additional cost.
With a subscription, Hulu + Live TV users can watch originals from Hulu, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm (Star Wars, Indiana Jones), The Muppets Studio and Pixar. Subscribers can also watch ESPN+ for original sports programming and live sports from Formula 1 and the NHL, MLB and other sports leagues. It includes unlimited cloud DVR too. Unfortunately, Hulu doesn’t offer a free trial at this time.
Sling
Sling is one of the cheapest options for new live TV streaming subscribers who want to watch the NCAA March Madness Basketball Tournament online. You can watch truTV and TBS on Sling Blue (unfortunately, no CBS).
The Sling Blue plan is $22.50 for the first month ($45 monthly after) and includes over 40 local and national broadcast channels, such as truTV and TBS and others.
Meanwhile, Sling Orange ($20 for the first month, $40 monthly after) also features Bravo, The Disney Channel, ESPN, FreeForm, FX, AMC, BBC America, USA Network and much more, while the Sling Orange + Blue plan is only $30 for the first month ($60 per month afterward) and includes truTV and TBS as part of its offerings.
Fubo
If you’d like to watch the NCAA March Madness Basketball Tournament live on CBS (unfortunately, no truTV and TBS) — along with more than 170 other news, entertainment and sports channels — go with a subscription to Fubo. The streaming service starts at $59.99 per month for the first month ($79.99 per month afterward), while you can record more than 1,000 hours of TV shows, movies, games and more. Fubo is available to watch on your smartphone, tablet or TV too.
Other plans include the Elite package (with more than 250 channels for $69.99 per month for the first month, then $89.99 per month) and the Premier tier that comes with nearly 300 channels, NFL RedZone, Showtime and 4K quality for $79.99 per month for the first month, then $99.99 per month.
If you want to watch the college basketball game for free, the online TV streaming service offers a seven-day free trial for new subscribers.
How to Watch NCAA March Madness Sweet 16 Basketball Tournament on TV
The NCAA March Madness Basketball Tournament broadcasts live across truTV, TBS and CBS. You can watch the game on TV through your cable provider, on truTV.com, TBS.com, CBSSports.com or the truTV, TBS and CBS Sports mobile app with your cable TV account credentials — including traditional and streaming services such as DirecTV, Hulu + Live TV, Verizon, Philo, Sling, Xfinity and others.
Additionally, you can watch CBS with a digital over-the-air antenna since it’s a broadcast network.
What Is the NCAA March Madness Sweet 16 Basketball Tournament Schedule?
NCAA March Madness is about halfway through the basketball tournament with the Sweet 16 on Thursday, March 28 and Friday, March 29. It concludes with the NCAA Championship Game on Monday, April 8 at 4 p.m. PT/7 p.m. ET on TBS at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
- Sweet 16 March 28-29 on TBS and CBS, as well as Max and Paramount+
- Elite Eight March 30-31 on TBS and CBS, as well as Max and Paramount+
- Final Four April 6 on TBS and Max
- NCAA Championship Game April 8 on TBS and Max
Meanwhile, check out a complete list of Sweet 16 games, below:
Thursday, March 28:
- Arizona (2) vs. Clemson (6): 4:09 p.m. PT/7:09 p.m. ET — CBS
- UConn (1) vs. San Diego State (5): 4:39 p.m. PT/7:39 p.m. ET — TBS/truTV
- North Carolina (1) vs. Alabama (4): 6:39 p.m. PT/9:39 p.m. ET — CBS
- Iowa State (2) vs. Illinois (3): 7:09 p.m. PT/10:09 p.m. ET — TBS/truTV
Friday, March 29:
- Marquette (2) vs. NC State (11): 4:09 p.m. PT/7:09 p.m. ET — CBS
- Purdue (1) vs. Gonzaga (5): 4:39 p.m. PT/7:39 p.m. ET — TBS/truTV
- Houston (1) vs. Duke (4): 6:39 p.m. PT/9:39 p.m. ET — CBS
- Tennessee (2) vs. Creighton (3): 7:09 p.m. PT/10:09 p.m. ET — TBS/truTV
Where to Buy NCAA March Madness Sweet 16 Basketball Tournament Tickets Online
Want to watch all of the college basketball action in person? You’ll find options for last-minute tickets below to attend the NCAA March Madness Basketball Tournament in Boston, Dallas, Detroit and Los Angeles.
Ticket prices vary depending on the city, where you’d like to sit in the arena and are available on third-party ticketing platforms such as StubHub, Ticket Liquidator, Ticket Network, GameTime and Ticketmaster; visit NCAATickets.com for more info.
One of the best deals on NCAA basketball tickets is at Vivid Seats, where you can save $20 off with code THR2024; or at SeatGeek where you can use promo code HOLLYWOOD10 to save $10 off eligible purchases of $250 and up.