When does March Madness Start?

The National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I men's basketball tournament, also known as March Madness, is a single-elimination competition held in the United States to determine the men's college basketball national champion. The championship, which has 68 teams and is primarily held in March, was held for the first time in 1939. It has grown to be one of the biggest yearly sporting events in the United States, known for upsetting favored teams.

36 schools are given at-large berths along with winners from 32 Division I conferences. Following their selection by an NCAA selection committee, these teams are revealed on Selection Sunday, a nationally broadcast event. Teams are grouped into four regions, each of which has a seed assigned to it ranging from 1 to 16. Over the course of three consecutive weeks, there are seven rounds of the tournament. Eight teams compete in the First Four to begin the first week, and the four winners advance to the first and second rounds along with 60 other teams.

For the sake of the number of competitors in the round, the 16 winners move on to the second weekend to compete in the regional semifinals and finals, which are also referred to as the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight, respectively. After that, four teams—collectively known as the Final Four—move on to the third weekend of the tournament to compete for the national semifinals and national championship. After the victorious team is proclaimed the national champion, the nets are cut down and a tournament montage set to One Shining Moment is viewed.

When does March Madness start in 2025?

The 86th NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament will take place in UD Arena, Dayton, from March 18, 2025, until April 7, 2025. There will be 68 teams participating in the single-elimination tournament.

Any program that wins a conference tournament receives one of 32 automatic berths. The NCAA Selection Committee extends selections for the 36 "at-large" bids that remain. Additionally, the entire field was seeded from 1 to 68 by the Selection Committee.

The First Four features eight teams: four at-large teams and four automatically qualified teams with the lowest seeding. The winners of these matches will move on to the tournament's main bracket.

The schedule for the 2025 March Madness, as per the NCAA, is as follows:

• Selection Sunday: Sunday, March 16, 2025

• First Four: March 18-19, 2025

• First round: March 20-21, 2025

• Second round: March 22–23, 2025

• Sweet 16: March 27-28, 2025

• Elite Eight: March 29-30, 2025

• Final Four: April 5, 2025, at Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas

• NCAA championship game: April 7, 2025, at Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas

The locations for the men's tournament in 2025, as per the NCAA, are as follows:

What time is the March Madness Championship?

The 2024–25 March Madness Championship will begin with Selection Sunday on March 16, 2025, at 6 p.m. ET on CBS, as per the NCAA.

What time is the March Madness Championship game?

The 2024–25 March Madness Championship game will be available on April 7 at 9:20 p.m. ET on CBS and Paramount+, as per the NCAA.

When does March Madness begin?

After Selection Sunday, the First Four rounds of the 2024–25 March Madness will take place in Dayton, Ohio, at the UD Arena on March 18–19, 2025, hosted by the University of Dayton.

When does March Madness end?

The 2024–25 NCAA March Madness will end by April 7, 2025, with the National Championship game, at Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.