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March Madness: How to Watch, Livestream Kansas vs. North Carolina in the National Championship Today

College basketball will crown a champion tonight in New Orleans on TBS.

Matt Elliott Senior Editor
Matt Elliott is a senior editor at CNET with a focus on laptops and streaming services. Matt has more than 20 years of experience testing and reviewing laptops. He has worked for CNET in New York and San Francisco and now lives in New Hampshire. When he's not writing about laptops, Matt likes to play and watch sports. He loves to play tennis and hates the number of streaming services he has to subscribe to in order to watch the various sports he wants to watch.
Expertise Laptops, desktops, all-in-one PCs, streaming devices, streaming platforms
Eli Blumenthal Senior Editor
Eli Blumenthal is a senior editor at CNET with a particular focus on covering the latest in the ever-changing worlds of telecom, streaming and sports. He previously worked as a technology reporter at USA Today.
Expertise 5G, mobile networks, wireless carriers, phones, tablets, streaming devices, streaming platforms, mobile and console gaming,
Matt Elliott
Eli Blumenthal
2 min read
See at Sling TV
Sling TV
Carries TBS for $35
See at YouTube TV
YouTube TV
Carries TBS for $65
See at Hulu With Live TV
Hulu With Live TV
Carries TBS for $70
See at DirecTV Stream
DirecTV Stream
Carries TBS for $70
See at March Madness Live
March Madness Live
Free with pay TV subscription

It all comes down to the Jayhawks and the Tar Heels. Two of the most storied programs in college basketball will play for the national championship tonight in New Orleans. On Saturday, No. 1 Kansas trounced No. 2 Villanova and No. 8 North Carolina edged No. 2 Duke to eliminate the Blue Devils and end coach Mike Krzyzewski's career. Kansas is looking for its fourth national championship and first since 2008. North Carolina is gunning for its seventh title and last won it all in 2017. 

The national championship game tips off on Monday at 9:20 p.m. ET (6:20 p.m. PT) on TBS. Here's how you can watch with or without cable. 

UNC Kansas

Caleb Love led North Carolina past Duke in the semifinals. The Tar Heels take on the Kansas Jayhawks on Monday night for college basketball's national championship.

Jamie Squire/Getty Images

March Madness FAQs

Where can I see the March Madness bracket?

You can check out all of the regions, results and the paths UNC and Kansas took to the title game of the NCAA tournament bracket here.

Can I watch for free?

Yes, you can. There are two ways to watch UNC-Kansas tonight.

The March Madness Live app and website offer a free three-hour preview, after which point you'll need to prove you're a pay-TV subscriber. Three hours should be enough to get you through tonight's game.

The other way is to sign up for a live TV streaming service. Each of the major five services offers a free trial. YouTube TV and Hulu With Live TV offer seven-day trials, while DirecTV Stream gives you five days. Sling TV doesn't have a free trial, but does offer a $10 discount on the first month of service.

Best options for streaming without cable

Sling TV's $35-a-month Blue plan includes TBS to watch the culmination of March Madness. Read our Sling TV review.

DirecTV Stream's basic, $70-a-month package includes TBS. Read our DirecTV Stream review.

You can stream every game of March Madness on the NCAA's March Madness Live site or app. You can watch for three hours for free, but then you'll need to log in to prove you have a pay TV subscription that includes the channels that televise the tournament. It should be noted that in addition to cable and satellite providers, you can use a YouTube TV, Hulu With TV, DirecTV Stream or Sling TV subscription to access March Madness Live.

Latency is an issue with any streaming service and particularly with live sports, where you might also be following along on Twitter and could see a final score before the game actually ends. The NCAA says this year's streams will offer a 20% latency improvement compared with last year's. While that is welcome, March Madness Live streams will likely still be behind cable and satellite TV and could also trail streams from YouTube TV and the other live TV services.

All of the live TV streaming services above offer free trials, allow you to cancel anytime and require a solid internet connection. Looking for more information? Check out our live-TV streaming services guide.