The greatest tournament in American sports enters full gear Thursday as the 2025 NCAA Tournament begins its wall-to-wall action with stretch of 32 games in a 48-hour span. What started as a 68-team bracket (already down to 64 teams) will be truncated to 16 by the time Sunday night concludes as the chase to the national championship will undoubtedly begin at a frenetic pace.
It’s rare to get two Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame coaches matched-up in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, but that’s what we have Thursday in Providence. Bill Self’s No. 7-seed Kansas Jayhawks will play John Calipari’s No. 10-seed Arkansas Razorbacks in a massive West Region game scheduled to tip at 7:10 pm ET on CBS. Combined, those men have won three national championships and made 10 Final Fours.
Barring a surprise, the winner of that game will advance to play St. John’s, which is also coached by a Naismith Memorial Hall of Famer (Rick Pitino), in what could be one of the best subregional stretches of March Madness.
The dates and sites for every 2025 NCAA Tournament game are listed below culminating with the Final Four and NCAA championship game on April 5 and 7 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
The road to the Final Four is a long but worthwhile journey, so be sure to check in often as CBS Sports will update this page every time the NCAA Tournament schedule is adjusted. Games will be aired across CBS, TNT, TBS and truTV and available on March Madness Live. All games airing on CBS will also be available to Paramount+ subscribers.
2025 NCAA Tournament schedule, dates
First round
Thursday, March 20Rupp Arena (Lexington), Amica Mutual Pavilion (Providence), Intrust Bank Arena (Wichita), Ball Arena (Denver)
12:15 p.m.(9) Creighton 89, (8) Louisville 75Highlights12:40 p.m.(4) Purdue 75, (13) High Point 63Highlights1:30 p.m.(3) Wisconsin 85, (14) Montana 66Highlights2 p.m.(1) Houston 78, (16) SIU Edwardsville 40HIghlights2:50 p.m.(1) Auburn 83, (16) Alabama State 63Highlights3:15 p.m.(12) McNeese 69, (5) Clemson 67Highlights4:05 p.m.(6) BYU 80, (11) VCU 71Highlights4:35 p.m.(8) Gonzaga 89, (9) Georgia 68Highlights6:50 p.m.(2) Tennessee 77, (15) Wofford 62Highlights7:10 p.m.(10) Arkansas 79, (7) Kansas 72Highlights7:25 p.m.(4) Texas A&M 80, (13) Yale 71Highlights7:35 p.m.(11) Drake vs. (6) MissouritruTV (watch live)9:25 p.m.(10) Utah State vs. (7) UCLATNT (watch live)9:45 p.m.(15) Omaha vs. (2) St. John’sCBS (watch live)10 p.m.(12) UC San Diego vs. (5) MichiganTBS (watch live)10:10 p.m.(14) UNCW vs. (3) Texas TechtruTV (watch live)
Friday, March 21Climate Pledge Arena (Seattle), Rocket Arena (Cleveland), Fiserv Forum (Milwaukee), Lenovo Center (Raleigh)
12:15 p.m.(9) Baylor vs. (8) Mississippi StateCBS (watch live)12:40 p.m.(15) Robert Morris vs. (2) AlabamatruTV (watch live)1:30 p.m.(14) Lipscomb vs. (3) Iowa StateTNT (watch live)2 p.m.(12) Colorado State vs. (5) MemphisTBS (watch live)2:50 p.m.(16) Mount St. Mary’s vs. (1) DukeCBS (watch live)3:15 p.m.(10) Vanderbilt vs. (7) Saint Mary’struTV (watch live)4:05 p.m.(11) North Carolina vs. (6) Ole MissTNT (watch live)4:35 p.m.(13) Grand Canyon vs. (4) MarylandTBS (watch live)6:50 p.m.(16) Norfolk State vs. (1) FloridaTNT (watch live)7:10 p.m.(14) Troy vs. (3) KentuckyCBS (watch live)7:25 p.m.(10) New Mexico vs. (7) MarquetteTBS (watch live)7:35 p.m.(13) Akron vs. (4) ArizonatruTV (watch live)9:25 p.m.(9) Oklahoma vs. (8) UConnTNT (watch live)9:45 p.m.(11) Xavier vs. (6) IllinoisCBS (watch live)10 p.m.(15) Bryant vs. (2) Michigan StateTBS (watch live)10:10 p.m.(12) Liberty vs. (5) OregontruTV (watch live)
Second round
Saturday, March 22 — 12:10 p.m. start (CBS, TBS, TNT, truTV)Rupp Arena (Lexington), Amica Mutual Pavilion (Providence), Intrust Bank Arena (Wichita), Ball Arena (Denver)
Sunday, March 23– 12:10 p.m. start (CBS, TBS, TNT, truTV)Climate Pledge Arena (Seattle), Rocket Arena (Cleveland), Fiserv Forum (Milwaukee), Lenovo Center (Raleigh)
Sweet 16
Thursday, March 27 — 6:30 p.m. start (CBS, TBS)Prudential Center (Newark), Chase Center (San Francisco)
Friday, March 28 — 6:30 p.m. start (CBS, TBS)State Farm Arena (Atlanta), Lucas Oil Stadium (Indianapolis)
Elite Eight
Saturday, March 29 — 6:09 p.m. start (TBS)Prudential Center (Newark), Chase Center (San Francisco)
Sunday, March 30 — 2:20 p.m. start (CBS)State Farm Arena (Atlanta), Lucas Oil Stadium (Indianapolis)
Final Four
Saturday, April 5 — 6:09 p.m. start (CBS)Alamodome (San Antonio)
National Championship
Monday, April 7 — 8:50 p.m. (CBS)Alamodome (San Antonio)
First Four
Tuesday, March 18UD Arena (Dayton)
Wednesday, March 19UD Arena (Dayton)
(16) Mount St. Mary’s 83, (16) American 72Condensed game(11) Xavier 86, (11) Texas 80Condensed game
