Everyone is excited for the first round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament (aka March Madness) on Thursday, March 21, and rightly so, but tournament action actually begins with the First Four, a quartet of games in the men's and women's college basketball tournaments that will round out their official fields of 64 teams. We've got everything you need to know about how to watch the First Four games right here.
Men's First Four: TruTV (streaming via Sling, Max and more)
Women's First Four: ESPNU & ESPN 2 (streaming via Sling and more)
The men's NCAA Tournament First Four games are taking place on Tuesday, March 19, and Wednesday, March 20, in Dayton, Ohio. The Tuesday games are going to see Wagner play Howard at 6:40 pm ET/3:40 pm PT and Colorado State vs Virginia at 9:10 pm ET/6:10 pm PT. On Wednesday, Grambling vs Montana State tips off at 6:40 pm ET/3:40 pm PT and then the First Four closes out with Colorado vs Boise State at 9:10 pm ET/6:10 pm PT.
The women's tournament starts with its First Four games on March 20 and Thursday, March 21. Wednesday's games feature Presbyterian vs Sacred Heart at 7 pm ET/4 pm PT and Columbia vs Vanderbilt at 9 pm ET/6 pm PT. On Thursday the games are Arizona vs Auburn at 7 pm ET/4 pm PT and UT Martin vs Holy Cross at 9 pm ET/6 pm PT.
Something to note, especially in the men's bracket, First Four teams have a history of going on runs in the tournament (most notably VCU and UCLA's famous runs to the Final Four, but also 16-seed Fairleigh Dickinson University upsetting 1-seed Purdue in 2023), so consider that as you fill out your bracket.
With that in mind, here is everything you need to know about how to watch the March Madness First Four games online and on TV.
How to watch men’s March Madness First Four games in US
All of the First Four games in the men’s bracket are going to air on TruTV. To watch live on TV, you need a cable TV package or a live TV streaming service that carries the channel; in the case of the latter that includes Hulu with Live TV, Sling TV and YouTube TV. College basketball fans who have cut the cord can also stream the First Four games live if they sign up for Max, which has the B/R Sports tab for live sports available to all subscribers for free (for a limited time).
Though one of the best bang for your buck deals to watch the First Four and all of March Madness is Sling TV. For as low as $20 per month you can sign up for Sling TV Blue and watch not only the First Four games, but all of the March Madness games that air on TruTV, TBS and TNT.
How to watch women’s March Madness First Four games in US
The women's First Four games are going to air on the ESPN family of networks, specifically ESPNU for the games on Wednesday, March 20, and ESPN2 for games on Thursday, March 21.
To watch any of these games, you are going to need a pay-TV cable package that includes the sports networks or a live TV streaming service with them. In the case of the latter, ESPN2 is available on Fubo, Hulu with Live TV, Sling TV and YouTube TV, while ESPNU is available as part of the lineup on Hulu with Live TV and YouTube TV, while it is available via add-on packages with Fubo and Sling TV.
Still, based on the current Sling TV deal, even the required add-on for ESPNU ($15 per month), it remains one of the cheaper options.
How to watch March Madness First Four games from anywhere
If you finds yourself outside of the US but wanting to watch March Madness this year, a Virtual Private Network (VPN) can help if there is no easy way to catch the action.
A VPN lets you get around the usual digital barriers by changing your IP address, meaning you can watch events like March Madness as you would in your home country. Our favorite is NordVPN, which is the No. 1-rated VPN in the world right now according to our sister site, TechRadar.
How to use a VPN to watch any stream
- Download the app at NordVPN
- Choose the location of the streaming service you want to watch (US, UK, etc)
- Navigate to the streaming service and start watching!
First Four game times
Again, here is the official schedule for the First Four games in the men's and women's brackets:
Men's First Four schedule
Tuesday, March 19
- No. 16 Wagner vs No. 16 Howard, 6:40 pm ET/3:40 pm PT (TruTV)
- No. 10 Colorado State vs No. 10 Virginia, 9:10 pm ET/6:10 pm PT (TruTV)
Wednesday, March 20
- No. 16 Grambling vs No. 16 Montana State, 6:40 pm ET/3:40 pm PT (TruTV)
- No. 10 Colorado vs No. 10 Boise State, 9:10 pm ET/6:10 pm PT (TruTV)
Women's First Four schedule
Wednesday, March 20
- No. 16 Presbyterian vs No. 16 Sacred Heart, 7 pm ET/4 pm PT (ESPNU)
- No. 12 Columbia vs No. 12 Vanderbilt , 9 pm ET/6 pm PT (ESPNU)
Thursday, March 21
- No. 11 Arizona vs No. 11 Auburn, 7 pm ET/4 pm PT (ESPN2)
- No. 16 UT Martin vs No. 16 Holy Cross, 9 pm ET/6 pm PT (ESPN2)
