NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Schedule: Friday, March 21
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.
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