The Rounds of 64 and 32 delivered their share of drama, but now that the March Madness Sweet 16 has arrived, the stakes couldn’t be higher for anyone still hoping to win their office pool.
This year, one bracket made it further than most, surviving all the way to the 44th game of the tournament before No. 6 Tennessee’s 79-72 upset of No. 3 Virginia finally ended the run. Out of the roughly 36 million brackets tracked across major online platforms like ESPN, CBS, Yahoo, and others, zero perfect brackets remain. (Office pools are a different story, of course. If you’re still alive in yours, hold tight.)
What’s perhaps more striking than the upsets themselves is what didn’t happen: For the second straight year, there are no mid-major Cinderellas left standing. The Sweet 16 is an all-power-conference affair, a reflection of how NIL and the transfer portal have reshaped the landscape of college basketball.
The third and fourth rounds start Thursday, and while traditional Cinderella stories may be off the table, the Sweet 16 matchups are loaded with intrigue.
When and where do the Sweet 16 games of March Madness 2026 air?
Sweet 16 — Thursday, March 26
- No. 11 Texas vs. No. 2 Purdue, 7:10 p.m. ET on CBS (SAP Center, San Jose, CA)
- No. 9 Iowa vs. No. 4 Nebraska, 7:30 p.m. ET on TBS (Toyota Center, Houston, TX)
- No. 4 Arkansas vs. No. 1 Arizona, 9:45 p.m. ET on CBS (SAP Center, San Jose, CA)
- No. 3 Illinois vs. No. 2 Houston, 10:05 p.m. ET on TBS (Toyota Center, Houston, TX)
Sweet 16 — Friday, March 27
- No. 5 St. John’s vs. No. 1 Duke, 7:10 p.m. ET on CBS (Capital One Arena, Washington, D.C.)
- No. 4 Alabama vs. No. 1 Michigan, 7:35 p.m. ET on TBS (United Center, Chicago, IL)
- No. 3 Michigan State vs. No. 2 UConn, 9:45 p.m. ET on CBS (Capital One Arena, Washington, D.C.)
- No. 6 Tennessee vs. No. 2 Iowa State, 10:10 p.m. ET on TBS (United Center, Chicago, IL)
Elite 8
Sweet 16 winners won’t get much of a break. Regional championships are set for Saturday, March 28, and Sunday, March 29, airing across CBS and TBS.
Final Four
Saturday, April 4: The penultimate games will air on TBS at 6:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. ET from Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
National Championship
Monday, April 6: The champion will be decided at 8:30 p.m. ET on TBS from Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
How to watch for free
CBS Sports and Turner Sports show all tournaments across TBS, CBS, TNT, truTV, and their digital platforms, including March Madness Live.
Can I watch March Madness online?
If you have a cable subscription but aren’t near a TV, you can log into TBS.com or the TBS app for games on that network. You’ll need your cable or satellite provider credentials. CBS and Warner Bros. Discovery are also streaming games on their respective platforms.
- Paramount+: CBS’s streaming service; subscriptions start at $8.99 or $13.99/month. They have a deal right now for $2.99 for your first month.
- Max: No free trial; subscriptions start at $10.99/month
- Disney+ bundle: (Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+): Starts at $35.99/month; no free trial currently available
- Hulu with Live TV: Three-day free trial; $89.99/month afterward
- YouTube TV: Five-day free trial available; $82.99/month after
- Sling TV: Currently offers an “Orange” plan starting at $4.99 for a one-day, three-day, seven-day, or monthly subscription to watch sports streaming
- Fubo TV: Seven-day free trial; plans start around $73.99/month
NCAA’s own streaming option
March Madness Live will stream every game on the NCAA website and on Apple, Android, Amazon, and Roku devices. You’ll need to log in with your TV provider credentials to access most content, though some free streaming windows are typically offered early in the tournament.
The post How to watch the Sweet 16 and the Elite 8 of March Madness 2026 for free—and without cable appeared first on Fortune.
