How to watch 2024 NCAA Tournament: Sites, TV, bracket for March Madness basketball

The 85th NCAA Men’s Basketball Division I Championship, or March Madness, opens Tuesday in Dayton, Ohio. Some three weeks later, the Final Four tips off in Glendale, Arizona.

It’s been a remarkable ride for the event that started in 1939 as a response to the NIT, which had debuted a year earlier to big crowds in New York. The thinking went like this: If there was going to be a national basketball tournament, it should be owned and operated by the NCAA.

2024 NCAA Men's Bracket by The Kansas City Star on Scribd

The first tournament, with the final played at Northwestern University, was a box office bust, losing $2,500. The tournament moved to Kansas City and Municipal Auditorium in 1940 and earned a $9,500 profit. Not the billions the event earns from media contracts today, but a nice start.

Here’s where and how to watch the 2024 edition of men’s basketball’s Big Dance:

NCAA Tournament dates

First Four: March 19-20

First Round: March 21-22

Second Round: March 23-24

Sweet 16: March 28-29

Elite Eight: March 30-31

Final Four: April 6

National championship game: April 8

NCAA Tournament host sites

First Four: Dayton, Ohio

First- and second-round games: Charlotte, N.C., Omaha, Neb., Pittsburgh, Salt Lake City, Brooklyn, Memphis, Tenn., Indianapolis, Spokane, Wash.

Regionals: Boston, Los Angeles, Dallas, Detroit

Final Four: Glendale, Arizona.

TV coverage

First Four games will be broadcast on truTV. First- and second-round games will appear on CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV. Regionals will air on CBS and TBS and the Final Four is slated for TBS.

Also, all games are available on March Madness Live, the NCAA’s streaming service.

Defending NCAA hoops champion

Connecticut. Also in the Final Four last year: San Diego State, Florida Atlantic and Miami. Interestingly, the Huskies, Aztecs and Owls are back in the Tournament, all in the East Region.

NCAA Tournament seed list

After the selection process, the NCAA lists the teams by overall seeds. Connecticut is first, followed by Houston, Purdue, North Carolina, Tennessee, Arizona, Marquette, Iowa State, Baylor, Creighton, Kentucky, Illinois, Duke, Kansas and Auburn.

Success by seed in first round (1985-2023)

Here’s how past games have played out, by seeding (record by higher seed):

• No. 1 vs. No. 16: 150-2

• 2 vs. 15: 141-11

• 3 vs. 14: 130-22

• 4 vs. 13: 120-32

• 5 vs. 12: 99-53

• 6 vs. 11: 94-58

• 7 vs. 10: 92-59

• 8 vs. 9: 74-78

Most NCAA basketball championships

Everyone still trails the Bruins:

• 11: UCLA

• 8: Kentucky

• 6: North Carolina

• 5: Duke, Indiana, Connecticut

• 4: Kansas