Before March Madness kicks off on Thursday, March 18, the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee will need to select, seed and bracket the field for the upcoming tournament and we have all the details on how you can watch Selection Sunday 2021 on TV or online.
The committee actually began planning for March Madness 2021 all the way back in November of last year and then in February of this year, the committee heads traveled to Indianapolis where they held a scaled-down selection and seeding process. Last Tuesday though, the entire committee began to cast their ballots and debate over which teams will end up in the final bracket of 68 which is released on Selection Sunday.
When it comes to how a team can earn a bid to the NCAA tournament and be selected for the bracket, there are two ways in which it can happen. First the 32 Division 1 conferences (31 in 2021) all receive an automatic bid that they then award to the team that wins the postseason conference tournament. Any team that manages to win their conference tournament is known as an automatic qualifier. Other teams can find their way onto this year's March Madness bracket through an at-large bid. On Selection Sunday, the committee decides which 36 teams (37 in 2021) will earn an invitation to the tournament.
Whether you're rooting for your favorite college basketball team or putting together your bracket for March Madness, we'll show you exactly how to watch this year's Selection Sunday from anywhere in the world.
March Madness Selection Sunday 2021 - When and where?
This year's Selection Sunday will take place on Sunday, March 14 at 6pm ET / 3pm PT ahead of the start of March Madness on Thursday. The show will air on TV on CBS but it will also be available to stream on Paramount Plus.
Watch Selection Sunday from anywhere
We have all the details on how you can watch this year's Selection Sunday in the U.S., Canada, the UK and Australia further down in this guide. However, if you want to find out which 68 teams will get to play in March Madness when you're away from home, then you'll run into problems as your domestic coverage online from abroad will likely be geo-blocked.
That's where a VPN (Virtual Private Network) can really come in handy. They allow you to virtually change the IP address of your laptop, tablet or mobile to one that's back in your home country which will let you watch as if you were back there.
VPNs are incredibly easy to use and have the added benefit of providing you with an additional layer of security when surfing the web. There are also a lot of options but we recommend ExpressVPN as our top pick due to its speed, security and ease of use. The service can even be used on a wide array of operating systems and devices (e.g. iOS, Android, Smart TVs, Fire TV Stick, Roku, game consoles, etc). Sign up for ExpressVPN now and enjoy a 49% discount and 3 months FREE with an annual subscription. You can even test it out for yourself thanks to the service's 30-day money back guarantee. Looking for more options?
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How to watch Selection Sunday 2021 in the U.S.
If you live in the U.S. and have a cable subscription or even just a digital antenna, you'll be able to watch Selection Sunday at 6pm ET / 3pm PT on CBS. However, if you have a Paramount Plus subscription you can also watch the show there.
Not interested in signing up for cable just to watch this year's Selection Sunday in order to be fully prepared for March Madness? Don't worry as there are now a number of streaming services, all at different price points, that will give you access to CBS so you can watch the show online. We've listed a few of our favorites below to make things easier for you.
- Hulu with Live TV - $54.99 per month - As well as giving you access to CBS, the service also includes its own Hulu Originals and supports a wide variety of streaming devices.
- YouTube TV - $65 per month - YouTube TV gives you access to CBS as well as over 70 other TV channels and a free 7-day trial is available.
- FuboTV - starting at $64.99 per month. FuboTV gives you access to CBS as well as over 80 other channels. The service also includes a 7-day free trial so you can test it out for yourself.
- AT&T TV Now - $69.99 per month - AT&T TV Now will give you access to CBS and the service allows you to watch over 45 live TV channels. You can also record up to 20 hours of content using its cloud DVR.
Get a Selection Sunday 2021 livestream in the UK, Canada and Australia
Unfortunately it looks like NCAA basketball fans in Canada, the UK and Australia won't be able to watch this year's Selection Sunday show live as no international broadcasters have picked up the rights to show it outside the U.S. However, Canadian viewers will be able to watch a College Game Night: Bracketology special on TSN2 at 7pm ET / 4pm PT this Sunday. In order to watch Selection Sunday though, you'll need to grab a VPN and follow the instructions above.
