CBS has televised the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament championship game for 34 consecutive years, but that streak will end this year as Turner Sports has exclusive coverage of the title game at NRG Stadium in Houston on April 4. As part of their 14-year agreement with the NCAA, CBS and Turner Sports alternate coverage of the Final Four and National Championship games beginning in 2016. Turner airs the games in even-numbered years, while CBS gets odd-numbered years, through 2024.
Turner has had exclusive coverage of the Final Four for the past two years, so college hoops fans have had some time to adjust to big games not airing on broadcast TV. The CBS/Turner collaboration is among the best in sports media, allowing for all 67 tournament games to be nationally televised. All games are also available on online and mobile platforms through NCAA March Madness Live. Turner Sports’ Final Four and championship coverage includes Teamcasts, in which TBS airs the traditional broadcast, and TNT and truTV air team-specific “Team Streams” with commentary and graphics tailored to the participating teams’ fan bases.
In another twist this year, the NCAA is going back to calling the Round of 64 the “First Round” and the Round of 32 the “Second Round,” as they had been called until the tournament expanded to 68 teams in 2011. Just when you thought you had it figured out …
Tournament teams and seedings are announced on CBS March 13, and play begins March 15-16 with the First Four (still called the “First Four”).
Last year’s championship game was a clash of No. 1 seeds as Duke defeated Wisconsin 68-63. It was the fifth national title for Duke and head coach Mike Krzyzewski.
NCAA Tournament Schedule At A Glance
Selection Sunday March 13 (CBS)
First Four March 15-16 (truTV)
First Round March 17-18 (CBS, TBS, TNT & truTV)
Second Round March 19-20 (CBS, TBS, TNT & truTV)
Regionals March 24-27 (CBS & TBS)
Final Four April 2 (TBS, TNT & truTV)
Championship Game April 4 (TBS, TNT & truTV)
2016 NCAA March Madness TV Schedule
NCAA Tournament 2016 Elite 8 TV schedule on CBS and TBS
Regional Finals Saturday, March 26 (6 p.m. ET)
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Tip (ET) |
Network |
Site |
Game |
Play-by-Play/Analyst//Reporter |
6:09 p.m. |
CBS |
Anaheim |
Oregon vs. Oklahoma |
Verne Lundquist/Jim Spanarkel//Allie LaForce |
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8:49 p.m. |
CBS |
Louisville |
Kansas vs. Villanova |
Jim Nantz/Grant Hill/Bill Raftery//Tracy Wolfson |
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Regional Finals Sunday, March 27 (6 p.m. ET)
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Tip (ET) |
Network |
Site |
Game |
Play-by-Play/Analyst//Reporter |
6:09 p.m. |
TBS |
Chicago |
Virginia vs. Syracuse |
Kevin Harlan/Reggie Miller/Dan Bonner//Lewis Johnson |
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8:49 p.m. |
TBS |
Philadelphia |
North Carolina vs. Notre Dame |
Brian Anderson/Steve Smith//Dana Jacobson |
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Saturday, March 26 – Regional Finals
3 p.m. – CBS – NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Championship
5 p.m. – CBS – Road to the Final Four
6 p.m. – CBS – Teams TBA
8:30 p.m. – CBS – Teams TBA
Sunday, March 27 – Regional Finals
5 p.m. – TBS – Infiniti NCAA Tip-Off
6 p.m. – TBS – Teams TBA
8:30 p.m. – TBS – Teams TBA
11 p.m. – TBS – Inside March Madness presented by Buick
Saturday, April 2 – Final Four National Semifinals
Noon – CBS – “With a Kiss” Documentary
1 p.m. – CBS – Reese’s College All-Star Game
3 p.m. – TBS – At the Final Four presented by Infiniti
4 p.m. – TBS – The Final Four Show
6 p.m. – TBS – Teams TBA
6 p.m. – TNT – Team Stream
6 p.m. – truTV – Team Stream
8:30 p.m. – TBS – Teams TBA
8:30 p.m. – TNT – Team Stream
8:30 p.m. – truTV – Team Stream
11 p.m. – TBS – Inside March Madness presented by Buick
Monday, April 4 – National Championship
7 p.m. – TBS – Capital One Championship Central
9 p.m. – TBS – Teams TBA
9 p.m. – TNT – Team Stream
9 p.m. – truTV – Team Stream
11:30 p.m. – TBS – Inside March Madness presented by Buick
I love watching the playoffs and look forward to them each year. However, after watching the finals this year I was greatly disappointed with the the two announcers. They were so biased toward the North Carolina team that it was very noticeable. One was worse than the other and complained about every foul – well they were mugging the shooter and that is a foul. After the final second shot and t – he game was over – instead of the winning team being spotlighted and talked about it was all NC including showing only the NC fans and players. What about the winners – NOTHING – it was obvious that NC was thought to be the eventual winner and all the clips were about them – you should be ashamed of yourselves for this biased coverage.