The NCAA’s First Four games mark the start of March Madness, and one of the most talked-about teams to make the tournament will be playing tonight. The University of North Carolina Tar Heels were no shoo-in for the tournament, especially after their crushing loss to Duke last Friday. The Tar Heels were the final at-large team chosen for the bracket, a somewhat controversial surprise for fans watching on Selection Sunday. They’ll appear on the court Tuesday night, facing the San Diego State Aztecs, No. 4 in the Mountain West Conference. Here’s what you need to know about how to tune in, and get live game-day updates of the North Carolina vs. San Diego State game here.
How to watch the North Carolina vs. San Diego State game:
Date: Tuesday, March 18
Time: 9:10 p.m. ET (approx. start time)
Location: Dayton, Ohio
TV channel: truTV
Streaming: Max, DirecTV, Sling, Hulu with Live TV
Where to watch the North Carolina vs. San Diego State game:
You can tune into North Carolina vs. San Diego State, a First Four game, on truTV, which is available on platforms like DirecTV, Sling, and Hulu with Live TV. The game will also be streaming on Max.
2025 March Madness First Four Schedule:
All times Eastern
Tuesday, March 18
Alabama State vs. St. Francis, 6:40 p.m. (truTV, Max)
North Carolina vs. San Diego State, 9:10 p.m. (truTV, Max)
Wednesday, March 19
Mount St. Mary’s vs. American, 6:40 p.m. (truTV, Max)
Xavier vs. Texas, 9:10 p.m. (truTV, Max)
How to watch March Madness basketball games in 2025:
NCAA March Madness basketball games will be broadcast across CBS Sports and TNT Sports channels, including CBS, TNT, TBS and truTV, with CBS games also streaming on Paramount+ and TNT/TBS/truTV games streaming on Max. These channels are also available on platforms including DirecTV, Hulu with Live TV and Sling. (Note that while we typically love Fubo for sports, it does not carry TNT, TBS and truTV, which is where you’ll find a majority of March Madness games.)
Every way to watch NCAA March Madness games this season:
Paramount+ has two tiers available: an $8/month ad-supported tier and a $13/month premium tier that’s ad-free and includes live access to your local CBS channel (and access to Showtime), which you’ll need to stream select March Madness games.
Right now, Paramount+ is still offering a free trial — so new subscribers could sign up to watch Selection Sunday and the First Four, plus check out the rest of the Paramount+ library free for seven days.
Max, aka “the one to watch,” has select live sports available through its Bleacher Report Sports add-on, which is included free of charge for ad-free Max subscribers. (If you subscribe to Max’s ad-supported plan, you should be able to access the B/R add-on content until March 30).
On top of March Madness games on TBS, TNT and TruTV, Max has buzzy shows including The White Lotus, The Last of Us, House of the Dragon, Dune: Prophecy and more.
Ad-supported Max starts at $10/month. The standard plan (which includes B/R Sports free of charge) costs $17/month.
Sling doesn’t offer a free trial these days, and March Madness lasts longer than your standard trial would. It’s still a solid option to catch most games in the tournament. Emphasis on most, because one big blindspot for Sling is that it doesn’t carry CBS.
That said, for $45 for your first month of Sling Orange + Blue and the Sports Extra add-on, you can catch all the games on TBS, TNT, TruTV, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPNU, ESPNews and ABC.
