When does March Madness start in 2025? Key dates, schedule, overview, channel and more

March Madness in 2025 is just around the corner. The NCAA Tournament will feature 68 teams each from the men's and women's sections.

However, the start and finish dates for the men's and women's NCAA Tournament will differ.

When does March Madness start in 2025?

The NCAA men's basketball tournament will start on Tuesday, March 18, in Dayton, Ohio. Meanwhile, the women's NCAA basketball tournament will commence with games on Wednesday, March 19.

The participating teams for both men and women will be announced on Sunday, March 16. The men's teams will be announced at 6 p.m. ET, followed by the women's teams at 8 p.m. ET.

How to watch March Madness games in 2025?

The men's March Madness games will be broadcast live on CBS, TBS, TNT and TruTV. Fans can live stream the matchups via Paramount+ and Max subscriptions or DirecTV, Fubo or Sling.

Meanwhile, the women's NCAA Tournament games will be telecast live on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPNews. Fans can live stream the games on ESPN+.

2025 March Madness schedule

Here's a look at the March Madness schedule for the men's NCAA tournament:

• First Four: March 18-19
• First round: March 20-21
• Second round: March 22-23
• Sweet 16: March 27-28
• Elite Eight: March 29-30
• Final Four: April 5 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas
• NCAA championship game: April 7 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas

Here's the full March Madness schedule for the women's NCAA tournament:

• First Four: March 19-20
• First round: March 21-22
• Second round: March 23-24
• Sweet 16: March 28-29
• Elite Eight: March 30-31
• Final Four: Friday, April 4, at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida
• NCAA championship game: Sunday, April 6, at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida

Latest rankings of men's college basketball teams

Here are the latest AP Top 25 rankings for the men's teams that were released on Monday (not including results from Monday's games):

Rank	Team	Record
1	Duke	28-3
2	Houston	27-4
3	Auburn	27-4
4	Florida	27-4
5	Alabama	24-7
6	St. John's	27-4
7	Michigan State	26-5
8	Tennessee	25-6
9	Texas Tech	24-7
10	Clemson	26-5
11	Maryland	24-7
12	Iowa State	23-8
13	Louisville	25-6
14	Texas A&M	22-9
15	Kentucky	21-10
16	Memphis	26-5
17	BYU	23-8
18	Wisconsin	23-8
19	Saint Mary's	27-4
20	Purdue	21-10
21	Missouri	21-10
22	Michigan	22-9
23	Oregon	23-8
24	Illinois	20-11
25	Marquette	22-9

Rankings of women's college basketball teams

Here are the AP Top 25 rankings for the women's teams that were released on Monday (not including results from Monday's games):

Rank	Team	Record
1	UCLA (16)	30-2
2	South Carolina (9)	30-3
3	UConn (7)	30-3
4	USC	28-3
5	Texas	31-3
6	TCU	31-3
7	Duke	26-7
8	Notre Dame	26-5
9	NC State	26-6
10	LSU	28-5
11	Oklahoma	25-7
12	North Carolina	27-7
13	Kentucky	22-7
14	Baylor	27-7
15	Ohio State	25-6
16	West Virginia	24-7
17	Oklahoma State	25-6
18	Maryland	23-7
19	Kansas State	26-7
20	Tennessee	22-9
21	Alabama	23-8
22	Creighton	26-5
23	Florida State	23-8
24	South Dakota State	29-3
25	Mississippi	20-10