March Madness: How to watch and stream the first four and the first round

The NCAA tournament kicks off today with eight teams hanging out in the March Madness lobby to join in the formal dance activities.

Some may consider the First Four an unnecessary addition to an NCAA machine that is always looking for ways to generate excitement and television revenue, but the games often feature some of the best basketball games of the season. It’s also worth noting that it wouldn’t be wise to write these teams off in your bracket: remember how far First Four overtime winner UCLA got in 2021?

This year’s First Four show kicks off as Southeastern Missouri State takes on Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The winner will play top seed Alabama in the first round on Thursday. Tuesday night features Pittsburgh and Mississippi State, with the winner playing No. 6 Iowa State on Friday.

Wednesday’s slate begins with Fairleigh Dickinson and Texas Southern battling it out for the honor of playing champion Big Ten Purdue on Friday. Next, Nevada and Arizona State will meet to determine who will fly to Denver to play No. 6 Texas Christian in the first round on Friday.

All games of the first four will be available to stream on the March Madness Live website or the march madness live and trutv Apps for iOS and Android devices.

For those not enamored with the demitasse of the first four games, here’s a look at the full schedule for the first round. All games can be seen on march madness live or in the March Madness Live App. CBS broadcasts are available on the Paramount+.