When Does the 2025 NCAA Tournament Start? Schedule, How to Watch, & More

America’s favorite tournament is almost here: The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. 68 teams. Win or go home. Unforgettable moments. Incredible cinderella stories.

The 2025 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament will tip off on Tuesday, March 18, with the play-in games, followed by non-stop action getting started on Thursday, March 20, with the First Round.

Below, we’ll break down everything you need to know about the 2025 NCAA Tournament — dates, locations, how to watch, a printable bracket, and more.

If you’re looking to add even more excitement to every tournament game, PrizePicks is the place to be. Throughout the tournament, you can make picks on college basketball player projections and win up to 1000x on your Lineups. Plus, keep an eye out for special promos and discount drops as part of Yearbook — rolling out through the month of March. 

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When Does the 2025 NCAA Tournament Start?

It depends who you ask. Officially, the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament begins Tuesday, March 18, with the First Four play-in games. Most fans start tuning in when the Round of 64 tips off on Thursday, March 20, at 12 p.m. ET — with basketball all day long.

The 2025 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament ends with the National Championship on April 7, 2025, at 8:50 p.m. ET on CBS in San Antonio, Texas.

For college basketball purists, the real tournament begins with conference tournaments, starting March 3 or March 10, depending on the league. Some teams will battle for NCAA Tournament seeding, while others will fight for an automatic bid. 

Expect high-intensity, win-or-go-home games all week, leading up to Selection Sunday on March 16, when the 68-team field is revealed. Be sure to check out our college basketball board daily to get in on the real money CBB DFS action!

2025 NCAA Tournament Schedule

Here is a round-by-round look at the 2025 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament schedule:

• Selection Sunday: Sunday, March 16 (6 p.m. ET)
• First Four (Play-In Games): March 18-19
• First Round: March 20-21
• Second Round: March 22-23 
• Round of 16: March 27-28
• Regional Semifinals: March 29-30
• National Semifinals: April 5
• National Championship: April 7

2025 NCAA Tournament Printable Bracket

Filling out your bracket online is a sin; real fans fill out their brackets by hand!

Download our printable 2025 NCAA Tournament Bracket here and enjoy every game until a new national champion is crowned.

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The bracket will be updated after Selection Sunday on March 16.

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Where to Watch the 2025 NCAA Tournament?

CBS holds the rights to broadcast the NCAA Tournament. Throughout the First and Second Rounds, when many games will overlap, you’ll find games on CBS family of networks — this include CBS, TBS, TNT, and TruTV. 

You can watch the National Semifinals from San Antonio, Texas, on CBS on April 5, 2025, with the first game at 6:09 p.m. ET, and the second at 8:49 p.m. ET.

Where is the 2025 NCAA Tournament Played?

What makes the NCAA Tournament unique is that there are no scheduled home games — every round is hosted somewhere different. Here is where games will be played this year.

• UD Arena, Dayton, Ohio — March 18-19 (First Four)

First and Second Round Hosts

• Rupp Arena, Lexington, Ken. — March 20-22
• Amica Mutual Pavilion, Providence, R.I. — March 20-22
• Ball Arena, Denver, Colo. — March 20-22
• Intrust Bank Arena, Wichita, Kan. — March 20-22
• Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, Ohio — Mach 21-23
• Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, Wash. — March 21-23
• Fiserv Arena, Milwaukee, Wisc. — March 21-23
• PNC Arena, Raleigh, N.C. — March 21-23

Regional Semifinals and Finals Hosts

• East: Prudential Center, Newark, N.J. — March 27-29
• West: Chase Center, San Francisco, Calif. — March 27-29
• Midwest: Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, Ind. — March 28-30
• South: State Farm Arena, Atlanta, Ga. — March 28-30

National Semifinals and Championship

The National Semifinals and Championship will be played in the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The Semifinals are on April 5, with the National Championship on Monday, April 7.

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How Does the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Work?

The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament is the culmination of four and a half months of college basketball. 364 schools — big and small — from across the country are distilled into a 68-team, single-elimination tournament to crown a national champion. 

Teams are ranked as a No. 1 through No. 16 seed in a four-quadrant bracket based on overall resume and various criteria, including strength of schedule and other performance metrics. 

From there, they are matched up in a way that reflects their regular season and conference tournament performance. For instance, one of the better teams from an elite conference — like Missouri in the SEC — will likely receive a more favorable draw than a team from a smaller conference — such as the Big West’s UC San Diego — even if both teams had strong seasons.

The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament is the magical time of year when the country rallies around the future insurance salesman as he cooks next year’s NBA Draft lottery pick for 20 points in an upset victory. 

It’s when Cinderella teams like last year’s NC State or 2023’s Fairleigh Dickinson defy the odds. 

It’s when the basketball world is formally introduced to Steph Curry as he lights up the NCAA Tournament and when we embrace Sister Jean as America’s sweetheart. 

Above all else — it’s a time that we come together to celebrate basketball and the thrill of the unexpected.

Teams play over several weekends (Thursday to Sunday) from mid-March until the beginning of April to determine a new National Champion.

Brackets are a big part of the NCAA Tournament fun, but they rarely last beyond the first couple of days. When yours inevitably gets busted, PrizePicks keeps the excitement going with college basketball player projections throughout the tournament. 

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Get Real Money Action on the NCAA Tournament

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