NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Schedule: Friday, March 21

Written By Caleb Tallman | Last Updated at August 17, 2025

The first round of NCAA men's basketball tournament games is a whirlwind, with 16 scheduled games each day on Thursday and Friday.

We have Friday's schedule for you, so you can make sure you don't miss a minute of the action, with the first game starting just after noon Eastern time and the last game not scheduled to start until after 10 p.m. on Friday, meaning more than 12 hours of game action.

The 16 teams that win their first-round matchups on Friday will advance to the round of 32 and play their second-round matchups on Sunday. Here's the NCAA Tournament schedule and estimated start times for Friday, March 21.

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Friday's schedule for the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament

Here is the second full day of the 2025 NCAA men's basketball tournament, scheduled for Friday, March 21. We have each matchup listed by region, including the scheduled TV tip times. Games will never start earlier than their scheduled times, but if any early games go long, scheduled times can get backed up. All times are Eastern.

South Region

14 Lipscomb vs. 3 Iowa State, 1:30 p.m., TV: TNT
11 San Diego State/North Carolina vs. 6 Ole Miss, 4:05 p.m., TV: TNT
10 New Mexico vs. Marquette, 7:25 p.m., TV: TBS
15 Bryant vs. 2 Michigan State, 10:00 p.m., TV: TBS

West Region

12 Colorado State vs. 5 Memphis, 2:00 p.m., TV: TBS
13 Grand Canyon vs. 4 Maryland, 4:35 p.m., TV: TBS
16 Norfolk State vs. 1 Florida, 6:50 p.m., TV: TNT
9 Oklahoma vs. 8 UConn, 9:25 p.m., TV: TNT

East Region

9 Baylor vs. 8 Mississippi State, 12:15 p.m., TV: CBS
15 Robert Morris vs. 2 Alabama, 12:40 p.m., TV: truTV
16 American/Mount St. Mary's vs. 1 Duke, 2:50 p.m., TV: CBS
10 Vanderbilt vs. 7 Saint Mary's, 3:15 p.m., TV: truTV
13 Akron vs. 4 Arizona, 7:35 p.m., TV: truTV
12 Liberty vs. 5 Oregon, 10:10 p.m., TV: truTV

Midwest Region

14 Troy vs. 3 Kentucky, 7:10 p.m., TV: CBS
11 Texas/Xavier vs. 6 Illinois, 9:45 p.m., TV: CBS

First-round games on Friday, March 21, are taking place at the following venues:

Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina
Rocket Arena in Cleveland
Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee
Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle

Announcer pairings for the NCAA Tournament

With CBS and Turner Sports joining together to cover every NCAA Tournament game again for the 2025 tournament, expect some excellent broadcasting pairs. Ian Eagle, who took over for Jim Nance last season, will once again be leading the top broadcasting team with the same group he had last season: Bill Raftery, Grant Hill, and Tracy Wolfson as the sideline reporter. They will call games each round as well as the Final Four and national championship.

There are three studio teams for the NCAA Tournament. The New York team will consist of host Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Clark Kellogg. The Atlanta team will be host Adam Lefkoe, Jay Wright, Candace Parker, and Seth Davis. Additional personalities include host Adam Zucker, analyst Wally Szczerbiak, rules analyst Gene Steratore, and Jami Erdahl with game updates.

Here are all of the official pairings:

Ian Eagle / Bill Raftery / Grant Hill / Tracy Wolfson (sideline reporter)
Brian Anderson / Jim Jackson / Allie LaForce (sideline reporter)
Kevin Harlan / Dan Bonner / Stan Van Gundy / Lauren Shehadi (sideline reporter)
Andrew Catalon / Steve Lappas / Evan Washburn (sideline reporter)
Lisa Byington / Robbie Hummel / Jalen Rose / Andy Katz (sideline reporter)
Spero Dedes / Jim Spanarkel / Jon Rothstein (sideline reporter)
Tom McCarthy / Steve Smith / Deb Antonelli / AJ Ross (sideline reporter)
Brad Nessler / Brendan Haywood / Dana Jacobson (sideline reporter)

Each of the above groups will cover the first and second round. The top four will also go through the Elite Eight, and the top grouping will have the Final Four and national championship.