Updated March 20, 2026, 8:15 p.m. CT
March Madness’ first weekend continues into March 20 with more first round NCAA Tournament games.
Tennessee basketball and Tennessee State are both in action. TSU seeks an upset of 2-seed Iowa State in St. Louis, while the Vols face possible Cinderella Miami (OH) in Tampa. Both are in the late-afternoon window.
Among blue bloods, Kentucky, Kansas and UCLA are on the Friday schedule. Defending champion Florida is too.
Here’s what you need to know about Friday’s first round games of the NCAA Tournament:
March Madness schedule today
The first Friday of the NCAA Tournament opens with Kentucky facing Santa Clara in St. Louis.
Here’s the full March Madness schedule for Friday’s games:
All times Central.
7-seed Kentucky vs. 10-seed Santa Clara (St. Louis), 11:15 a.m. on CBS5-seed Texas Tech vs. 12-seed Akron (Tampa), 11:40 a.m. on truTV1-seed Arizona vs. 16-seed LIU (San Diego), 12:35 p.m. on TNT3-seed Virginia vs. 14-seed Wright State (Philadelphia), 12:50 p.m. on TBS2-seed Iowa State vs. 15-seed Tennessee State (St. Louis), 1:50 p.m. on CBS4-seed Alabama vs. 13-seed Hofstra (Tampa), 2:15 p.m. on truTV8-seed Villanova vs. 9-seed Utah State (San Diego), 3:10 p.m. on TNT6-seed Tennessee vs. 11-seed Miami (OH) (Philadelphia), 3:25 p.m. on TBS8-seed Clemson vs. 9-seed Iowa (Tampa), 5:50 p.m. on TNT- 5-seed St. John’s vs. 12-seed Northern Iowa (San Diego), 6:10 p.m. on CBS
- 7-seed UCLA vs. 10-seed UCF (Philadelphia), 6:25 p.m. on TBS
- 2-seed Purdue vs. 15-seed Queens (St. Louis), 6:35 p.m. on truTV
- 1-seed Florida vs. 16-seed Prairie View A&M (Tampa), 8:25 p.m. on TNT
- 4-seed Kansas vs. 13-seed Cal Baptist (San Diego), 8:45 p.m. on CBS
- 2-seed UConn vs. 15-seed Furman (Philadelphia), 9 p.m. on TBS
- 7-seed Miami (FL) vs. 10-seed Missouri (St. Louis), 9:10 p.m. on truTV
NCAA Tournament scores, results for Friday’s first round games
This will be updated as games go final.
How to watch March Madness games
Friday’s slate of NCAA Tournament games will appear across CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV, all of which will broadcast four games.
The March Madness Live app on mobile and on NCAA.com streams every NCAA Tournament game. Fubo, which has a free trial availabe, is also available for streaming for games on CBS only.