2026 Men’s College Basketball Championship Week runs from March 2 to March 15, 2026. Major conference tournaments, including the Big Ten, Big 12, and SEC, begin on March 10–11. All 31 automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament will be decided by Selection Sunday, March 15, with games airing on ESPN, CBS, FS1, and Peacock.
Expert Note from the Sports Brackets Analyst: The 2026 schedule is notably more condensed due to the 18-team expansions in the Big Ten and ACC. Pay close attention to ‘double-bye’ seeds; in these larger brackets, teams playing on Tuesday or Wednesday have historically a less than 4% chance of reaching the Sunday final due to fatigue.
How are Men’s College Basketball NCAA Tournament Bids Determined During Championship Week 2026?
Conference tournaments crown auto-qualifiers (one per conference, except no Pac-12 tournament this year due to realignment) during championship week 2026. Upsets, buzzer-beaters, and bubble implications make this the most exciting week in college hoops. Even the IVY League is in the mix (they used to not have a tournament back in the day). We’ve got detailed brackets, printables, TV info, and predictions for many conferences on Sports Brackets. Check our main 2025-26 schedule hub for more: 2025-26 College Basketball Schedule, Printable & TV Lineups.
Championship Week TV & Streaming Guide
Watching 2026 Championship Week requires a mix of traditional cable and modern streaming platforms. ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU remain the primary homes for most mid-major finals and power conference early rounds, while CBS and FOX hold the exclusive rights to the biggest title games on Saturday and Sunday. For cord-cutters, Peacock has become a critical player this year, exclusively streaming the opening rounds of the Big Ten tournament, while ESPN+ carries the bulk of the early-action games from smaller conferences. To ensure you don’t miss a tip-off, we recommend having the NCAA March Madness Live app authenticated, as it serves as a central hub for streaming most CBS and Turner Sports broadcasts throughout the week.
2026 Championship Week Schedule – Men’s Conference Tournament Schedule Overview
Here’s a grid of all major conferences’ tournament dates, locations, and links to our in-depth guides (where available). Tournaments run March 2–15, with smaller conferences tipping off earliest and power leagues wrapping up just before Selection Sunday. Please note, where you don’t see a guide listed yet, we will be working those over the next few days. GItty up!
| Conference | Dates | Location / Venue | Auto-Bid Notes / Our Guide Link |
| Horizon League | March 2–10 (approx.) | Corteva Coliseum, Indianapolis, IN | Horizon League Tournament Guide |
| Patriot Tournament | March 3 – 11, 2026 | Campus Sites (All Rounds) | Patriot Tournament Guide |
| Summit League | March 4–8 | Denny Sanford PREMIER Center, Sioux Falls, SD | Summit League Tournament Guide |
| Sun Belt | March 3–9 | Pensacola Bay Center, Pensacola, FL | Sun Belt Tournament Guide |
| ASUN | March 4–8 | VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, Jacksonville, FL (early rounds campus) | ASUN Tournament Guide |
| Big South | March 4–8 | Freedom Hall Civic Center, Johnson City, TN | Big South Tournament Guide |
| NEC | March 4, 7, 10 | Campus sites (higher seeds) | NEC Tournament Guide |
| OVC | March 4–7 | Ford Center, Evansville, IN | OVC Tournament Guide |
| MAAC | March 5–10 | Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, NJ | MAAC Tournament Guide |
| MVC (Arch Madness) | March 5–8 | Enterprise Center, St. Louis, MO | MVC Tournament Guide |
| WCC | March 5–10 | Orleans Arena, Las Vegas, NV | WCC Tournament Guide |
| SoCon (Southern) | March 5–9 | Harrah’s Cherokee Center, Asheville, NC | SoCon Tournament Guide (Men’s and Women’s) |
| CAA | March 6–10 | CareFirst Arena, Washington, D.C. | CAA Tournament Guide |
| America East | March 7, 10, 14 | Campus sites (higher seeds) | America East Tournament Guide |
| Big Sky | March 7–11 | Idaho Central Arena, Boise, ID | Big Sky Tournament Guide |
| Southland | March 8-11 | Lake Charles, LA | Southland Tournament Guide |
| ACC | March 10–14 | Spectrum Center, Charlotte, NC | ACC Tournament Guide |
| Big 12 | March 10–14 | T-Mobile Center, Kansas City, MO | Big 12 Tournament Guide |
| Big Ten | March 10–15 | United Center, Chicago, IL | Big Ten Tournament Guide |
| C-USA | March 10–14 | Propst Arena, Huntsville, AL | C-USA Tournament Guide |
| American | March 11–15 | Legacy Arena at the BJCC, Birmingham, AL | American Tournament Guide |
| A-10 | March 11–15 | PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, PA | A-10 Tournament Guide |
| Big East | March 11–14 | Madison Square Garden, New York, NY | Big East Tournament Guide |
| MAC | March 11–14 | Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, OH | MAC Tournament Guide |
| Mountain West | March 11–14 | Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, NV | Mountain West Tournament Guide |
| WAC | March 11–14 | Orleans Arena, Las Vegas, NV | WAC Tournament Guide |
| MEAC | March 11–14 | Scope Arena, Norfolk, VA | MEAC Tournament Guide |
| Big West | March 11–14 | Lee’s Family Forum, Henderson, NV | Big West Tournament Guide |
| SEC | March 11–15 | Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN | SEC Tournament Guide |
| SWAC | March 9–14 | Gateway Center Arena, Atlanta, GA | SWAC Tournament Guide |
| Ivy League | March 13–15 | Newman Arena at Bartels Hall, Ithaca, NY | Ivy Madness Tournament Guide |
| Pac-12 | No tournament | N/A | Pac-12 2026 Outlook |
Key Highlights for Championship Week:
- Power Conferences (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC, Big East) dominate late week with massive TV audiences and bubble implications.
- Mid-majors like MVC, WCC, and Mountain West often produce Cinderella runs.
- First auto-bid likely from OVC or similar on March 7.
- Last auto-bid from Big Ten on March 15 afternoon/evening, right before Selection Sunday.
For live scores, brackets, and TV (mostly ESPN family, CBS, FOX), head to NCAA.com, ESPN.com, or our linked guides. Printable brackets available on most of our pages!
Who wins auto-bids? Which bubble teams crash out? Follow along. Championship Week is here! Drop predictions in comments or on X @javanx3d.
For more NCAA Tournament resources:
- 2026 March Madness Schedule: Dates, Locations, TV, Printable Bracket & Key Info (Updated January 2026)
- Printable 2026 March Madness Bracket: Download Your Free NCAA Tournament Template
- 2026 March Madness Women’s Schedule; Times, TV Broadcasts
- Printable 2026 Women’s March Madness Bracket; Schedule and Results
Early 2026 March Madness Odds & Predictions
Use our Tools & Utilities hub to download odds calculators, odds converters, parlay builders, and more to help you enjoy the best time of year in college basketball! March Madness.
