TV Answer Man, I may be away from home for the First Four games. Do you know how I can still watch the games on my phone with streaming? — Barry, Newark, New Jersey. 

Barry, the 2023 college basketball men’s championship tournament, better known as March Madness, tips off tonight with the opening ‘First Four’ doubleheader from Dayton Ohio. SE Missouri State will play Texas A&M CC at 6:30 p.m. ET while Pitt will face Mississippi State at 9 p.m. ET.

TruTV will broadcast the games but you will need a subscription to a pay TV service that carries the Turner network to watch it.

So, what if you don’t have truTV in your plan? Or, what if you have truTV but you want to stream it instead of watching via your cable or satellite provider? Do you have any options?

Answer: Yes.

The March Madness Live app will offer a live stream of each game. You can download the app from your device’s app store or you could just hop over to the March Madness Live web site here.

While March Madness Live requires a user name and password from a pay TV sub that carries the channel broadcasting the game (truTV in this case), there will be a free three-hour preview. That means you could watch tonight’s first game for free. However, once the free preview ends, you will be blacked out without that user name and password.

Here is the complete schedule of this week’s first round games:

Tuesday, March 14 (First Four)
No. 16 SE Missouri State vs. No. 16. Texas A&M CC  | 6:30 p.m. | truTV
No. 11 Pitt vs. No. 11 Mississippi St.  | 9 p.m. | truTV

Wednesday, March 15
No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson vs. No. 16 Texas Southern| 6:30 p.m. | truTV
No. 11 Nevada vs. No. 11 Arizona State  | 9 p.m. | truTV

Thursday, March 16 (Round of 64)

No. 9 West Virginia vs. No. 8 Maryland | noon| CBS — Free with antenna.
No. 13 Furman vs. No. 4 Virginia  |12:30 p.m.| truTV
No. 10 Utah St. vs. No. 7 Missouri |1:20 p.m. | TNT
No. 16 Howard vs. No. 1 Kansas  |1:50 p.m. | TBS
No. 16 SE Missouri St./Texas A&M CC vs. No. 1 Alabama |2:30 p.m. | CBS – Free with antenna.

No. 12 College of Charleston vs. No. 5 San Diego St.|3 p.m. | truTV
No. 15 Princeton vs. No. 2 Arizona |3:50 p.m. | TNT
No. 9 Illinois vs. No. 8 Arkansas |4:20 p.m. | TBS
No. 9 Auburn vs. No. 8 Iowa |6:45 p.m. | TNT
No. 12 Oral Roberts vs. No. 5 Duke |7 p.m. | CBS – Free with antenna.

No. 15 Colgate vs.  No. 2 Texas |7:15 p.m. | TBS
No. 10 Boise St. vs. No. 7 Northwestern |7:25 p.m. | truTV
No. 16 Northern Kentucky vs. No. 1 Houston |9:15 p.m. | TNT
No. 13 Louisiana vs. No. 4 Tennessee |9:30 p.m. | CBS – Free with antenna.
No. 10 Penn State vs. No. 7 Texas A&M |9:45 p.m. | TBS
No. 15 UNC Asheville vs. No. 2 UCLA |9:55 p.m. | truTV

Friday, March 17
No. 10 USC vs. No. 7 Michigan State |noon |CBS – Free with antenna.
No. 14 Kennesaw St. vs. No. 3 Xavier | 12:30 p.m. | truTV
No. 14 UC Santa Barbra vs. No. 3 Baylor | 1:20 p.m. | TNT
No. 12 VCU vs. No. 5 Saint Mary’s | 1:50 p.m. | TBS
No. 15 Vermont vs. No. 2 Marquette| 2:30 p.m. | CBS – Free with antenna.

 

 

No. 11 Mississippi State/Pitt vs. No. 6 Iowa State | 3 p.m. | truTV
No. 11 N.C. State vs. No. 6 Creighton| 3:50 p.m. | TNT
No. 13 Iona vs. No. 4 UConn | 4:20 p.m. | TBS
No. 16 Texas Southern/Fairleigh Dickinson vs. No. 1 Purdue| 6:45 p.m. | TNT
No. 11 Providence vs. No. 6 Kentucky | 7 p.m. | CBS – Free with antenna.

No. 12 Drake vs. No. 5 Miami | 7:15  p.m | TBS
No. 14 Grand Canyon vs. No. 3 Gonzaga| 7:25 p.m. | truTV
No. 9 Florida Atlantic vs. No. 8 Memphis | 9:15 p.m.| TNT
No. 14 Montana St. vs. No. 3 Kansas St. | 9:30 p.m. | CBS – Free with antenna.
No. 13 Kent State vs. No. 4 Indiana | 9:45 p.m. | TBS
No. 11 Arizona St/Nevada vs. No. 6 TCU | 9:55 p.m. | truTV

Future round teams to be announced:
Saturday, March 18 (Round of 32)
Sunday, March 19 (Round of 32)
Thursday, March 23 (Sweet 16.)
Friday, March 24 (Sweet 16.)
Saturday, March 25 (Elite 8.)
Sunday, March 26 (Elite 8.)
Saturday, April 1 (Final Four.)
Monday, April 3 (Championship game.)

Barry, hope that helps. Happy viewing and stay safe!

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— Phillip Swann
@tvanswerman