How to watch Selection Sunday 2025 on TV? Date, time, channel, location and more explored

Selection Sunday is a time-honored event before March Madness begins in earnest where the full 68-team bracket for the much-anticipated tournament is released to the public. Teams find out their fates and can map out a potential path to the Final Four and even the national championship game.

After various teams punched their tickets to the NCAA Tournament by winning their respective conference championship games to gain automatic qualifiers, certain teams are still in the bubble. They will find out their fates on that day.

There are still several automatic qualifier bids up in the air with the Big Ten championship game yet to be played and four other automatic qualifiers available.

So, how can fans watch the event?

How to watch Selection Sunday 2025 on TV?

College basketball fans will be able to start working on their brackets when the Selection Sunday show airs live on CBS for men's basketball and can be streamed on Paramount Plus.

Selection for women's basketball will be held on ESPN and can also be streamed on ESPN+. The event will also be streamed by the NCAA on NCAA March Madness Live.

The men's selection will be hosted by Adam Zucker and analysts Clark Kellogg, Jay Wright and Seth Davis. The chair of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball committee, Bubba Cunningham, will discuss the outcome of the process in a live interview on CBS.

Elle Duncan will host the women's selection and will be joined by ESPN analysts Andraya Carter, Rebecca Lobo, Carolyn Peck, reporter Holly Rowe and bracketologist Charlie Crem.

What time does Selection Sunday 2025 start?

The Selection Sunday show on the men's side will air on CBS at 6 p.m. ET while the women's side of the bracket will air on ESPN at 8 p.m. ET.

How does the NCAA Tournament selection process work?

As many as 32 teams will earn automatic qualifier bids after winning their conference tournaments, while the rest of the teams will fight for the 36 at-large bids. They will find out their fate on Selection Sunday based on their resume over the course of the season.

Factors considered in the seeding include the quality of the wins by a team, strength of schedule and overall record. On the women's side, the top 16 teams are granted home-court advantage and get to host the first- and second-round games.

After selection, the First Four will tip off on March 18-19. Then, the March Madness first round begins in earnest on March 20. The women's national championship game is on April 6 while the men's game will be on April 7.