How to watch march madness online without a cable subscription

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March is the biggest month of the year for college basketball. If you’re looking to catch all the March Madness action, but don’t have an active cable subscription, here are the best ways to stream all 67 games. That’s a lotta ball.

To make sure you can catch every game, you’ll need four key channels: CBS, TNT, TBS, and truTV. Between those, you won’t miss a single jam, clutch three, or questionable call. You’ll get it all.

When is March Madness?

It’s mostly in March.

But seriously, there are a few dates you’ll need to keep in mind:

• March 11: Selection Sunday
• March 13-14: First Four
• March 15-16: First Round
• March 17-18: Second Round
• March 22-23: Sweet 16
• March 24-25: Elite Eight
• March 31: Final Four
• April 2: Championship

Now, here’s where (and how) to watch all of that.

The Official March Madness Live App

The March Madness Live app—which is available for iOS, Android, Fire TV, Windows 10, Xbox One, Roku, and the web—is going to be your starting point for every game. If you have an Apple TV, you can even watch three games at the same time with this app. Neat.

The biggest downer here is that you only get three hours free—after that, you’ll need to log in with your cable provider. And since we’re talking about doing this without a cable subscription, the odds are that this won’t work for you.

It is, however, worth mentioning that even after that three hours runs out, you’ll still be able to catch all the games that are on CBS without logging in to a cable provider. Those are legitimately free. At least that’s something.

Streaming TV Package Options

So you don’t have (nor want) cable. I respect that, but there’s nothing wrong with hitting up a streaming TV package to catch March Madness. The beautiful thing about this that you can buy it for a month, and then just cancel. Since it’s all streaming, there’s basically no set up. Here’s the breakdown of which package you’ll need for the major streaming platforms:

• Sling: You’ll need the Blue package, which is $25/mo. CBS is missing, however.
• YouTube TV: For $35 a month, you’ll get everything you need. However, it’s worth noting that this isn’t available in all locations yet.
• DirecTV Now: You’ll need the Live A Little package for $35/mo. This gives you access to all the required channels.
• PlayStation Vue: The Core package for $40 will get you all four channels you need.
• Hulu TV: For $40 a month, you’ll be ready to go with all the channels.

If you’re looking to save a little coin, you could just go with the $25 Sling package and then watch the CBS games through the March Madness Live app. If that seems like too much hassle, we recommend just using YouTube TV for its simplicity—no need to sort through packages or anything. Just a flat fee, and you get all the channels you need. If YouTubeTV is not available in your area, DirecTV Now is the next best choice.

How to Watch Outside of the US: Use a VPN

All these methods work great if you’re in the US, but what if you’re…well, not? There’s a solution for you too: VPN.

You’ll need to find a good VPN service—we generally recommend StrongVPN for its reliable connection, ease of use, and reasonable price tag—though if you already have a preferred client, go for that.

If you’re familiar with VPN at all, then you already know the methodology here: connect to a server within the United States, and then use your streaming platform as normal.

Of course, some of these options may not work well with a VPN. For example, since YouTube TV is still geo-restricted even within the US, it’s probably not a great choice for this system. Instead, we recommend starting with Sling TV and the March Madness Live app.

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The field of 64 college basketball teams is now set for the 2018 March Madness tournament, with games scheduled to start on Thursday, March 15, at 12:15 p.m. ET. Fans have tons of options to watch the NCAA March Madness tournament live on TV, or to live-stream March Madness games on a laptop, phone, or other device, now through the 2018 championship game, set for Monday, April 2, at 9 p.m. ET.

But who should you pick in your office bracket to win the NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament Title? The wonks over at FiveThirtyEight say that #1 seeds Virginia and Villanova have the best chances of winning the title this year.

The experts at Sports Illustrated, meanwhile, are divided in their March Madness predictions, with picks to win the title going to Duke, Michigan State, and Purdue, as well as Virginia and Villanova.

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett is again offering a $1-million-per-year prize for life to anyone at his company, Berkshire Hathaway, who correctly picks the winner of every game in the 2018 March Madness tournament. Unsurprisingly, no one has ever won Buffett’s prize: The chances of filling out a perfect bracket have been estimated at up to 1 in 128 billion.

So how can you tune into the big dance for free?

What channel is March Madness on?

The broadcasting of all games in the 2018 March Madness tournament is a tag-team effort. Local CBS stations around the country are airing roughly one-fourth of the games, and the rest of the tournament is being divided up among Turner-owned pay TV channels TBS, TNT, and truTV. Here is a full TV schedule for March Madness 2018.

Games in the first and second rounds are being broadcast on one of the four different channels mentioned above. After that, to watch the Sweet 16, Elite 8, and 2018 Final Four, you must go to either CBS or TBS. Sweet 16 games are divided evenly between the two channels, while the two Elite 8 games on Saturday, March 24, are on TBS, and the two Elite 8 games on Sunday, March 25, are on CBS.

As for how to watch the Final Four, TBS is broadcasting all the games (the two NCAA March Madness semi-final matchups on Saturday, March 31, and the 2018 championship game, starting at 9 p.m. ET on Monday, April 2).

How to watch NCAA March Madness for free on TV

If you have a cable or satellite TV package, it’s easy to watch the NCAA basketball tournament for free. Just tune into the appropriate channel—either CBS, TBS, TNT, or truTV.

If you don’t have a pay TV package, you should still be able to watch the games being broadcast by CBS. All you need is a digital antenna, which in most of the country will give access to local broadcast channels like CBS at no charge.

How to live-stream March Madness for free

If you don’t have access to CBS on a TV, you can still live-stream CBS content to any device of your choosing via the CBS All Access service. It costs $5.99 per month and new subscribers can check out the service for free during a one-week trial period.

The NCAA Fast Break stream also lets fans watch online for free for three hours, before requiring you to log in with a pay TV account and password. Viewers can pick any March Madness game they want to watch live.

As for live-streaming the March Madness games being broadcast on TBS, TNT, and truTV, consider signing up for a streaming TV service such as DirecTV Now, Hulu Live, Playstation Vue, Sling TV, or YouTube TV. These services include Turner-owned pay TV channels in their packages and subscribers can stream local broadcast channels like CBS at no extra charge in most parts of the country.

All streaming TV services have free trials available for new subscribers as well, allowing you to stream to your heart’s content for a week or so before being charged the monthly rate. Just remember to cancel before the free trial ends if you are not interested in becoming a paid subscriber.

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Games will be streamed online and through the NCAA March Madness Live app. There’s even a trick to gain access to the games without a cable subscription.

It’s that time of the year again. The time when Internet speeds begin to slow and productivity dips. Yup, it’s March Madness time. Millions of people will tune in online and over-the-air to watch the best college basketball teams in the nation go head-to-head.

There’s a total of 67 games, which will be broadcast across CBS (the parent company of CNET), TNT, TBS and TruTV starting on Tuesday, March 17. The championship game is scheduled for Monday, April 6, on CBS.

Here’s how you can tune in on your devices:

Computer

Don’t have time to sit on the couch and enjoy the games? Head over to the NCAA’s March Madness Live website, where you will be able to stream all 67 games live. You may be wondering what’s the catch? While games airing on CBS can be accessed for free on the Web, you will be required to enter credentials from a participating cable or satellite provider to watch games on TNT, TBS and TruTV. The NCAA is offering a limited preview for people without a cable subscription, although it’s unclear how long it will run (likely only a few hours or even minutes).

Smartphone or tablet

Smartphone and tablet owners can tune in through the NCAA March Madness Live app. The same restrictions apply, however, as the website. CBS games will be streamed for free and a participating cable or satellite subscription will be required for the other games. The March Madness Live app is available for Android, iOS, Amazon and Windows devices.

Cordcutters

Don’t pay for a traditional cable package? All hope is not lost. As mentioned above, CBS games are streamed on the Web and through the mobile app for free. If you rather watch them on your TV, you can pick up a digital TV antenna to access CBS over-the-air. The hottest clips and highlights from the tournament will also be posted on the official NCAA March Madness YouTube channel.

Another option is the new Sling TV streaming service , which includes access to TBS, TNT, ESPN, Food Network, AMC and more for only $20 a month. TruTV can be added for an additional $5 a month as part of the Lifestyle extra channel package. As noted by Brad Tuttle over at Time, Sling offers a 7-day free trial that you could sign up for prior to tip off and use to watch the first week of games. Alternately, you may want to wait to begin the trial until later in the tournament to see potentially better match-ups, such as the two Final Four games on April 4 on TBS.

Microsoft on Tuesday added Sling TV to the Xbox One . As part of a special promotion for Xbox owners, the company is offering a free month long trial to test Sling. While the trial only includes access to the basic $20 plan (which doesn’t include TruTV), it’s the easiest way to get access to a majority of March Madness games for free.

Just be sure you remember to cancel the service before the trial is up or you will be automatically billed for the first month. This can be done online or over the phone by calling customer service at 888-909-4087.

Last updated on Wednesday, March 18 at 2 pm ET: An earlier version of this article stated that Sling TV could not be canceled online. This has been corrected.

The madness is back folks! With Selection Sunday happening on March 17th, we are inching closer and closer to the beginning of the Big Dance. Starting officially on March 19th, the biggest tournament in sports is here to ruin your productivity at work and will have you fighting for the TV at home.

However, if you don’t have cable to watch, don’t freak out just yet. I’m here to tell you that there are a few options you have when you want to watch the madness without cable. You don’t need to pay for an outdated satellite or pay hundreds for cable service. All you need to watch the action is an over the air tv antenna or a streaming service.

The tournament is comprised of 67 games that will be broadcast across four major networks: CBS, Tru TV, TNT, and TBS. The good news for you is that the NCAA Tournament Selection Show, Final Four, and National Championship will air on CBS. Just continue reading and follow our guide on how to March Madness without cable.

Over-The-Air TV Antenna

Channel Master has been in the TV antenna game for 70 years. So, if you’re wondering how to watch March Madness, a TV antenna is the way to go. Their antennas pick up over-the-air broadcasting and bring live tv into your home for free. They offer both indoor and outdoor TV antennas for your viewing needs. They have a great resource you can use called Antenna Selection Guide, which allows you to research the best antenna for you as well as what channels you receive in your area. Since CBS is one of the major networks, you can expect to receive their transmission without a problem. They will air 24 games throughout the tournament, so make sure you schedule your time accordingly.

If you’re going to miss some games, you have the option to record with Channel Master Stream+. Stream+ offers an on-screen program guide and allows users to pause, rewind and record live TV with no subscription fees. All you need is a hard drive so you have a place to view and save your recordings. Watching the madness this year will be easier than ever when you use an OTA antenna!

CBS All Access App

With the CBS All Access app, you will be able to stream the action live on your phone, tablet or streaming media console. The app is available for iOS and Android as well as Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Roku, Apple TV, PS4, Xbox, and more. You will also be able to watch the pre-show festivities and post-game interviews live on the app. A subscription that has limited commercials costs $5.99 per month or you can opt for an ad-free subscription for $9.99 per month. When you subscribe you will receive a one-week free trial.

Hulu with Live TV

Hulu with Live TV is an addition of Hulu’s existing on-demand service that adds live streaming television to the mix and includes the four channels you need to catch all of March Madness. It is a subscription option that allows you to gain access through the same platform. While using this service, you can watch live television on your desktop computer or laptop, smartphone, or tablet. There are three different price points so make sure you do your research on what is right for you.

NCAA March Madness Live App (h2 header)

Before we explain what this app is able to provide it’s important to note that not all games can be streamed live. Only the CBS broadcasts are available without a subscription on their app. For the other networks, you will need to use your cable subscription login information in order to watch the other games. This app offers some pretty cool information about the tournament though. Once you download you are able to see live scores, stats, an interactive bracket, game notifications, and curated social content. The app is free but remember you will need cable subscriptions to watch all games.

The options available to you for streaming March Madness 2019 are all diverse. Make sure you know what games you want to watch so you know what service to choose. Kick back, relax, drink a beverage of your choice and enjoy this year’s madness.

March Madness. The Big Dance. The home of huge upsets by feisty underdogs, dramatic finishes by future NBA stars, and Cinderella stories that are ultimately ended by blue-blood programs with significant athletic advantages. Yes, the NCAA men’s basketball tournament is back and you can watch the whole thing online without cable.

Whether your alma mater is a top seed or got bounced in a play-in game (go Shockers!), you’ll want to catch the March Madness action now that it’s back for the first time in two years. It’s easy to forget because the past year felt like it was 20 years long, but the 2020 tournament was one of the first things to get flat-out canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, there’s a lot of pent-up hoops energy that needs to be unleashed in this year’s tournament, which takes place entirely in Indiana.

Thankfully, it’s fairly trivial to watch all the games you want without spending an overwhelming amount of money.

If you have a cable login.

Plenty of people have logins for cable providers but don’t necessarily have cable in their home. It just means they have generous parents or friends. If you fall under that category, there’s an easy (if not especially great) way to watch March Madness for free.

If you use Apple, Android, Google TV, Xbox, Fire TV, or Roku devices, you can download an app called March Madness Live. It’s a one-stop shop for legal live streams of most March Madness games. I say “most” because games airing on CBS are not available on this app.

This is a perfectly acceptable option otherwise, though I’ll warn you that the streaming quality is middling and the Google TV interface is laggy. Once you get a stream running, it’s alright, but some of the methods we’ll discuss in the next section will probably give you a better viewing experience overall.

If you don’t.

This is where things get a little complicated, but only a little. It’s not that bad. We promise.

NCAA tournament games are airing on four networks this year: CBS, TNT, TBS, and truTV. There are plenty of streaming services that bring subscribers a cable-like live TV experience, but only two of them carry all four networks. If you already subscribe to YouTube TV or Hulu with Live TV, congratulations! You’re all set.

For those who don’t have access to any cable streaming service, YouTube and Hulu both have seven-day free trials. That’s not enough to watch the whole tournament, but it’s worth noting. You can also spend $64.99 for a month and then cancel the subscription before it renews, but that’s not a tiny amount of money.

Here’s the good news: You can get the same thing for almost half the price.

Sling TV’s Blue service tier is $35 per month and comes with all of the relevant networks, sans CBS. That’ll get you 75 percent of the way there. To burst past the finish line, sign up for Paramount+, which grants access to streaming your local CBS affiliate. You might already have Paramount+ if you previously subscribed to CBS All Access. But if you don’t, there’s a 30-day free trial right now. Perfect.

Put simply, you can either catch most games with a cable login, catch all of them with one of two $64.99 per month services, or just shell out $35 total for a month of college hoops goodness. Give yourself the gift of hearing “One Shining Moment” this year. You deserve it.

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Our cord-cutter’s guide will show you how you can watch every game in the tournament for the least amount of cash.

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For millions of sports fans, brackets—not baseball—herald the arrival of spring. With its big upsets, Cinderella stories, and weird mascots, the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship has transcended sports to become a cultural event.

But it’s a bittersweet time for cord-cutters. If the logistics of following more than 60 teams through a month-long tournament aren’t arduous enough, nearly 70 percent of games are televised on cable channels. The good news is that this year the NCAA Tournament Selection Show, the Final Four, and the National Championship will air on CBS. The only thing you’ll need is an antenna to catch that action.

Updated March 12, 2021 to report on the 2021 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the entire men’s basketball championship will be played in Indiana this year, with most of the tournament’s 67 games taking place in Indianapolis. The games will be broadcast across four networks: CBS, TBS, TNT, and truTV. Based on the schedule at press time, we’ve put together a strategy that will allow you to watch every minute of March Madness live without a cable subscription. The options below will take you all the way through to the title game on April 5.

Catch CBS games over the air or over the top

CBS’s March Madness coverage starts on March 19 with the First Round. The easiest—and only free—way to watch all the CBS action is with a good antenna. If you’re purchasing one for the first time, remember to first check to see which stations you can receive in your area, and which antenna type you’ll need to pull in your CBS affiliate. Given the challenging logistics of catching so many games, you might also want to invest in an over-the-air DVR to time-shift some of your viewing.

You can catch most of the March Madness action with an over-the-air TV antenna (provided you’re in range of a broadcast TV transmission tower).

The easiest—and only free—way to watch all the CBS action is with a good antenna. If you’re purchasing one for the first time, remember to first check to see which stations you can receive in your area, and which antenna type you’ll need to pull in your CBS affiliate. Given the challenging logistics of catching so many games, you might also want to invest in an over-the-air DVR to time-shift some of your viewing.

If you can’t access CBS over the air, consider subscribing to Paramount Plus, the recently launched streaming service that that bundles ViacomCBS brands including CBS, MTV, BET, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, and Paramount Network into a single subscription. The app, which replaces CBS All Access, will give you live streaming access to every game broadcast on the network.

A subscription costs $6 per month or $60 annually with advertising, or you can go ad-free for $10 per month or $100 per year (the service offers a one-week free trial). If you’re already a CBS All Access subscriber, your membership should have transferred over to Paramount Plus automatically, and your CBS All Access app replaced on your streaming device with the Paramount Plus app.

Sling is the thing for Turner telecasts

As in previous years, the bulk of the tournament will be aired on three Turner Sports networks—TBS, TNT, and TruTV—with most of the action on the flagship station. TruTV and TBS will split the First Four contests, and then the first and second rounds will air across all four networks. TBS will then share coverage with CBS of the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight contests.

Sling TV continues to dangle attractive incentives in front of new subscribers.

You can get all three of those channels with the Sling Blue package for $35 a month. Sling TV, which always has attractive incentives for new subscribers, is currently offering $10 off and a free DVR Plus for your first month, or an AirTV Mini streaming device for free when you prepay for two months. Sling TV also offers a free three-day trial.

You can watch Sling TV on your iOS or Android device or on your big screen with a Chromecast, Apple TV, or Amazon Fire TV. Currently, the service is offering a free Amazon Fire TV Stick with a two-month prepaid commitment.

AT&T TV steps onto the court

AT&T’s streaming service offers many of the same channels as SlingTV. Its basic Entertainment package will give you more than 65 channels—including TBS, TNT, and TruTV—for $70 per month. This lineup also includes ESPN and ESPN2, both of which will certainly have highlights and other coverage of the tournament. Use their channel lookup tool to see if you can get a live CBS feed in your area as well.

AT&T also offers two-year contracts that include a free AT&T streaming device and unlimited DVR recording.

Hulu with Live TV and YouTube TV

Unlike their competitors, Hulu with Live TV and YouTube TV each offer a single, flat-fee package that includes the four channels you need to catch all of March Madness. They’re priced comparably—$65 per month—but YouTube TV is currently offering two weeks free and a discounted price of $55 a month for your first 3 months. Pricing aside, you’ll need to check with each service to see which offers the required live channel streams in your area before making your decision.

FuboTV is the sports leader—except for March Madness

FuboTV is best known for its sports coverage, and it includes many of the same live TV channels as the other services we’ve already discussed (check the company’s website to see if you can get your local CBS channel). But while the company recently added ESPN to its lineup, it doesn’t offer TNT or TrueTV, so you won’t be able watch every game.

If you can get local CBS channels on FuboTV, you’ll be able to watch most of the games in the tournament.

The NCAA March Madness Live app

The NCAA’s own March Madness 2021 app offers lots of specialized content that revolves around the championship series.

The NCAA is once again offering all 67 games through the NCAA March Madness Live app. In addition to the game streams, the app offers live scores and stats, an interactive bracket, classic March Madness videos, game notifications, and curated social content.

As attractive as this option sounds for cord-cutters, the claim that you can watch the entire tournament with NCAA March Madness Live is a little misleading. Only the CBS broadcasts are available without a cable subscription; to view CBS’s games on your TV, or any of the Turner network broadcasts on any device, you need a cable subscription login. Still, it’s worth downloading if you don’t want to miss any of the CBS matchups while you’re away from a TV.

Time for tip off

The options for streaming live sports have never been better, so don’t let cutting the cord make you miss the NCAA champs cutting the net. Grab a beer and your bracket and take advantage of these cable alternatives for courtside seats for one the greatest sporting events of the year.

Note: When you purchase something after clicking links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Read our affiliate link policy for more details.

Michael Ansaldo is a veteran consumer and small-business technology journalist. He contributes regularly to TechHive and writes the Max Productivity column for PCWorld.

by Taylor Soper on March 17, 2016 at 9:21 am March 17, 2016 at 7:36 pm

There are a few options to watch March Madness games for those that don’t have a cable subscription.

If have log-in credentials, however, just go to the March Madness streaming portal on the web, or download the March Madness app — you can find it on iOS, Android, Windows 10, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, and Apple TV, which lets you watch two games at once. Those with AirPlay and Google Chromecast will be able to cast games to your TV.

If you don’t have a cable subscription, you have a few options. The 21 games aired by CBS do not require a log-in credential for streaming, but keep in mind that TBS is airing the Final Four and championship game. You can also snag an HD antenna and watch these games through the tube. One note: As CutCableToday reported, CBS games won’t stream on Amazon Fire TV, Roku, etc. — it will only stream on mobile devices.

For the official March Madness stream, you’ll get a temporary 3-hour live video pass before it asks for subscription credentials. So, if you really want to stream one game, that’s one method.

As Wired notes, you can try using an incognito browser window to get access to the 3-hour window, re-open the browser, and do it multiple times for however many games you want to watch. There’s also the option of using a VPN to mask your IP address.

Another option is Sling TV. Dish’s streaming platform will air 46 games — those that CBS won’t carry — on TBS, truTV, and TNT. Sling costs $20 per month, but you can do a 7-day free trial if you want to watch a subset of the March Madness games for free.

The same goes for Playstation Vue, which carries those three channels and also offers a 7-day free trial. You could technically do a seven day trial with Playstation, and then another seven days with Sling TV.

Finally, if you want to listen via radio, the March Madness app does offer audio feeds without requiring any log-in credentials.

Update: Bad news for Comcast customers trying to stream games on Amazon Fire TV, Roku, or Apple TV. Comcast:

@bbcof83 website at Comcast will not be supporting any authentication on Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV

I just ran into this problem with my Amazon Fire TV. Seemingly every other cable provider allows authentication to access the games, except Comcast. We’ve reached out to the company to find out why.

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Games will be streamed through the NCAA March Madness Live app. There’s even a way to watch some games without a cable subscription.

It’s March Madness time. Millions of people will tune in online and through cable or satellite providers over the next three weeks to watch the best college basketball teams in the nation face off.

There’s a total of 67 games, all of which will be streamed online and broadcast across CBS (the parent company of CNET), TNT, TBS and TruTV starting on Thursday, March 17. The championship game is scheduled for Wednesday, April 6, and will air on TBS.

Here’s how you can tune in on all of your devices:

Don’t have time to sit on the couch and enjoy the games? Head over to the NCAA’s March Madness Live website where you can catch all of the action live.

Unfortunately, you will be required to enter credentials from a participating cable or satellite provider to watch games that are being broadcast on TNT, TBS and TruTV. The NCAA is offering a three hour preview for people without a cable subscription, although you may want to save it for the championship game or two Final Four games.

Meanwhile, games being broadcast on CBS will be available to all for free, but will only be viewable on the Web and through the NCAA March Madness app unless you log in. Once logged in, however, you will be able to watch all games through apps on Windows 10, iOS, Android, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Roku players.

Cordcutters

All hope isn’t lost if you aren’t a cable or satellite subscriber. As mentioned above, CBS games are streamed on the Web and through the mobile app for free. If you rather watch them on your TV, you can pick up a digital TV antenna to access CBS over the air. The hottest clips and highlights from the tournament will also be posted on the official NCAA March Madness YouTube channel.

Another option is to subscribe to a streaming service such as Sling TV or PlayStation Vue, both of which include access to TBS, TNT and TruTV (Vue also has access to CBS in select markets). Both services offer a 7-day free trial that you could sign up for prior to tip off and use to watch the first week of games. Alternately, you may want to wait to begin the trial until later in the tournament to see potentially better match-ups, such as the two Final Four games or championship game.

There is also no commitment with both services, so you can sign up for a month of access and enjoy all the games on your TV before canceling. Sling TV is available for $20, while PlayStation Vue starts at $30 a month (or $40 depending on your market).

Despite that fact that we are still about a month and a half away from the opening tip of this year’s March Madness tournament, it’s never too early to start formulating plans for watch parties and get-togethers with friends.

If you’re one of the 22 million people in the United States that have cut the cord on cable television, you can still watch this year’s tourney through a number of different providers without chaining yourself to a long-term cable provider.

One thing worth mentioning before we dive in is that the tournament is carried on CBS’s network of channels, which includes the likes of basic cable options such as CBS itself and other networks such as TBS, TNT, and truTV. The games that are not on CBS will be a bit harder to watch without cable.

Antenna

Our first way to watch this year’s tournament action has surprisingly stood the test of time – the humble antenna. The antenna has come a long way since the days of the “bunny ears” and the digital antennas that are on the market now are fully capable of delivering crisp HD picture over the air. Since the tournament is carried largely on CBS, you will be able to watch a handful of the early tournament games and virtually all of the games in the later rounds for free via antenna.

Your Local Sports Bar

If you’ve cut the cord on cable and are looking for a great way to experience the games amongst other fans, watching the games at a bar is a great, cost-effective option. By going to a bar, you’ll be amongst hordes of other people who have cut out from their job early just like you. Given the fact that most bars have a ridiculous number of televisions, you should be able to watch any game you want with little effort. On top of being amongst fans, there’s also the added bonus of being able to enjoy a few beverages or some excellent pub food while watching the game. It’s hard to beat that!

March Madness Live App

If you have access to a cable provider’s subscription log-in, the March Madness Live App is certainly your best bet for watching all of the tournament games. If you don’t have a log-in for a cable provider, you can still use the app to watch all of the games offered by CBS on your phone or casted to your TV through Apple TV or Google Cast. The app also offers a one-time, three-hour trial for the games that aren’t airing on CBS.

Various Streaming Services

It’s amazing how far modern technology has advanced the way we can consume television. Nowadays, there is no shortage of fantastic online services that offer live-streaming of television via a litany of different devices. If you’re looking to watch some of the early parts of the tournament totally free of cost, you can utilize free trials that are offered by each of the streaming services listed below. If you end up enjoying the service itself, you can always go back and purchase it once your trial runs out. Here’s a quick breakdown of some of the best and most well-known streaming options for this year: