March Madness is one of the most highly anticipated tournaments in basketball and it’s now just around the corner. 

Excitement will be building amongst fans ahead of the iconic annual event that will see 68 teams compete to become NCAA Champions.

Getty

In the 85th edition of the tournament last year, UConn won their second consecutive title after beating Purdue 75-60 in the Championship Game. 

They’re now aiming to become only the second team ever to achieve a March Madness three-peat after UCLA’s seven wins from 1967 to 1973. 

March Madness: Dates and start times

March Madness will begin on Sunday, March 16 when fans will find out which teams are going to be competing in the tournament. 

Games are set to start on Tuesday, March 18 and the schedule will then run through all the way until Monday, April 7. 

April 7 is when the Championship game will take place and winners will be crowned. 

Start times for each game will be confirmed closer to the start date with UK times likely to be late evening or very early morning. 

TNT Sports has been broadcasting NBA action all season in the UK, meaning they are expected to show coverage of March Madness. 

talkSPORT and talkSPORT.com will also be on hand with all the latest. 

To tune in to talkSPORT or talkSPORT 2 through the website, click HERE for the live stream. 

You can also listen via the talkSPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.

Getty

March Madness: Schedule

Here’s the current schedule planned for the men’s tournament. 

• Selection Sunday: Sunday, March 16
• 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
• Championship game: April 7

And here’s the schedule for the women’s tournament. 

• Selection Sunday: Sunday, March 16
• 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: April 4
• Championship game: April 6

March Madness: Venues and locations

The tournament will be played at a variety of venues across the USA, with games being played all over the country. 

The Final Four and NCAA Championship game are going to be played at the same place – the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. 

Here’s every venue where men’s March Madness games will be held: 

First Four 

• UD Arena – Dayton, Ohio

First/Second Round 

• Rupp Arena – Lexington, Kentucky 
• Amica Mutual Pavilion – Providence, Rhode Island 
• Climate Pledge Arena – Seattle, Washington State
• Intrust Bank Arena – Wichita, Kansas 
• Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse – Cleveland, Ohio 
• Ball Arena – Denver, Colorado
• Fiserv Forum – Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• Lenovo Center – Raleigh, North Carolina

Sweet 16 and Elite Eight

• East: Prudential Center – Newark, New Jersey
• West: Chase Center – San Francisco, California
• South: State Farm Arena – Atlanta, Georgia
• Midwest: Lucas Oil Stadium – Indianapolis, Indiana

Final Four and Championship Game 

• Alamodome – San Antonio, Texas