2026 NCAA Tournament bracket: March Madness schedule and scores by region

Eight teams remain in the NCAA Tournament, and two will punch their tickets to the Final Four on Saturday. It sets up another strong night of college basketball.

The action begins with No. 9 seed Iowa facing No. 3 seed Illinois in Houston. The Hawkeyes are on a remarkable run under first-year coach Ben McCollum, led by standout guard Bennett Stirtz. Iowa advanced past Big Ten rival Nebraska in the Sweet 16, but faces a tougher challenge against Illinois. In its Sweet 16 win over Houston, Illinois smothered the Cougars in a 65-55 victory — the second straight game the Illini allowed just 55 points.

In the second game, No. 2 seed Purdue meets No. 1 seed Arizona. The Boilermakers edged Texas 79-77 in the Sweet 16 on Trey Kaufman-Renn’s tip-in with less than a second remaining. Arizona had a far more comfortable path, rolling past Arkansas 109-88 behind a 23-point performance from Brayden Burries, who shot 7 of 11 from the field.

By the end of the night, two teams will be headed to Indianapolis for the Final Four.

Here is the full tournament schedule and bracket to keep you up to date.

As the home of March Madness, CBS Sports will track every game and score, keeping you apprised of notable developments in our continuously updating live NCAA Tournament bracket with matchup analysis for every game.

As far as the NCAA Tournament schedule, we understand that it’s hard to keep up with that printable bracket of yours, so how about an easier way to digest it?

Below you will find a March Madness schedule featuring viewing information for each game broken down by region, so you can not only follow your team but also those they may compete against through the duration of March Madness.

In other words, you should bookmark this page and keep it as an easy reference guide from the First Four through the Final Four. Now that the games started on Tuesday, it will be updated with scores, analysis and much more — all the way through the national championship.

2026 NCAA Tournament bracket, scores

All times Eastern

East

FIRST ROUND

Thursday, March 19 — Greenville

Thursday — Buffalo

Friday, March 20 — San Diego

Friday — Philadelphia

SECOND ROUND 

Saturday, March 21 — Greenville 

Saturday — Buffalo 

Sunday, March 22 — San Diego 

Sunday — Philadelphia 

SWEET 16 

Friday, March 25 — Washington, D.C. 

• (1) Duke 80, (5) St. John’s 75 
• (3) Michigan State vs. (2) UConn | 9:45 p.m. | CBS

ELITE EIGHT 

Sunday, March 27 — Washington D.C. 

• (1) Duke vs. (2) UConn | 5:05 p.m. | CBS 

West

FIRST FOUR

Tuesday, March 17 — Dayton

FIRST ROUND

Thursday, March 19 — Portland

Friday, March 20 — San Diego

Friday — St. Louis

SECOND ROUND 

Saturday, March 20 — Portland 

Sunday, March 21 — San Diego 

Sunday — St. Louis

SWEET 16 

Thursday, March 26 — San Jose 

ELITE EIGHT 

Saturday, March 27 — San Jose 

• (1) Arizona vs. (2) Purdue | 8:45 p.m. | TBS 

Midwest

FIRST FOUR

Tuesday, March 17 — Dayton

Wednesday, March 18 — Dayton

FIRST ROUND

Thursday, March 19 — Buffalo

Friday, March 20– St. Louis

Friday — Tampa

Friday — Philadelphia

SECOND ROUND

Saturday, March 21 — Buffalo 

Sunday, March 22 — St. Louis 

Sunday — Tampa 

Sunday — Philadelphia 

SWEET 16 

Friday, March 27 — Chicago 

• (4) Alabama vs. (1) Michigan | 7:35 p.m. | TBS
• (6) Tennessee vs. (2) Iowa State | 10:10 p.m. | TBS 

Sunday, March 28 — Chicago 

• (1) Michigan vs. (6) Tennessee | 2:15 p.m. | CBS

South

FIRST FOUR

Wednesday, March 18 — Dayton

FIRST ROUND

Thursday, March 19 — Oklahoma City

Thursday — Greenville

Thursday — Oklahoma City

Friday, March 20 — Tampa

SECOND ROUND 

Saturday, March 21 — Greenville 

Saturday — Oklahoma City 

Sunday, March 22 — Tampa 

SWEET 16

Thursday, March 26 — Houston 

Saturday, March 28 — Houston 

• (3) Illinois vs. (9) Iowa | 6:09 p.m. | CBS

Elite Eight

Saturday, March 28 — 6:09 p.m. start (TBS)
Toyota Center (Houston), SAP Center (San Jose)

Sunday, March 29 — 2:15 p.m. start (CBS)
United Center (Chicago), Capital One Arena (Washington, D.C.)

Final Four

Saturday, April 4 — 6:09 p.m. start (TBS)
Lucas Oil Stadium (Indianapolis)

National Championship

Monday, April 6 — 8:50 p.m. (TBS)
Lucas Oil Stadium (Indianapolis)