How to watch the NCAA Championship Game for free—and without cable
It all comes down to this. The final game of March Madness 2025 is set to be a barn burner, with two of the teams oddsmakers considered the most likely to win battling it out for the NCAA National Championship.
The Florida Gators and Houston Cougars will square off Monday night. At the start of this year's tournament, Florida was favored to win with +350 odds. Houston was close behind at +600.
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Now, the experts are split. FanDuel has the Gators slightly favored, while ESPN expects the Cougars to come out on top.
So settle in and give yourself a break. Ignore the economy for a couple of hours and catch the end of this college basketball season. Here's when and where the game will be airing and ways to watch for free, without a cable subscription.
When and where does the 2025 NCAA Championship Game air?
Here's when and where you can catch this year's semifinal games- as well as the final.
April 7
Florida vs. Houson, 9:20 p.m. on CBS
How can I watch the NCAA Championship Game for free?
It's easy, actually. CBS is the host for the National Championship, so you can watch the game without a cable subscription. All you need is a good HD antenna. To ensure you're getting the most reliable signal for the CBS-carried games, you'll want to test the antenna in multiple locations in your home.
Can I stream the NCAA Championship Game online?
Yep – and you've got a number of choices to do so.
Paramount+
CBS's streaming service will give you a one-week free trial, followed by a $8 or $13 monthly charge.
Hulu with Live TV
The free trial on this service lasts three days. Afterward, it will cost you $77 per month.
YouTubeTV
After a free trial, you can expect monthly charges of $73.
DirecTV Stream
Formerly known as DirecTV Now, AT&T TVNow and AT&T TV, this oft-renamed streaming service will run you $80 per month and up after the free trial option.
Fubo TV
This sports-focused cord-cutting service carries broadcast networks in most markets. There's a seven-day free trial, followed by monthly charges of $80 and up, depending on the channels you choose.
Does the NCAA offer any service for me to watch the Final Four?
March Madness Live has streamed every game on the NCAA Website, as well as Apple, Android, Amazon and Roku devices and will continue to do so with the championship game. You'll need to log in with your username and password from your TV provider.
Can I watch the NCAA Championship Game on Amazon?
No. NCAA Tournament games do not stream on Amazon.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
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New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
College Football Playoff 2025 sleepers: 11 unranked dark-horse teams to watch
Though we usually have a good idea of which teams will be national championship contenders, the expansion of the College Football Playoff to 12 teams has made it easier for unpredictable sleepers to make a run into the bracket. Arizona State, Indiana and SMU joined top Group of 5 conference champion Boise State in leaping from unranked in the preseason to the Playoff last season. Who could do it this year? We asked 11 of The Athletic's college football writers to pick Playoff dark horses from teams that were unranked in Monday's preseason coaches poll. Advertisement If I keep predicting a Cornhuskers' resurgence at some point I'll be correct. Right? Two reasons why Nebraska could be in CFP contention late into the season: First, the Matt Rhule third-year bump. His teams at Temple and Baylor followed similar paths. Year 1, losing record. Year 2, bowl eligible. Year 3, double-digit victories and an appearance in the conference title game. Of course, doing that in The American and Big 12 is not the same as trying to do it in the Big Ten. That's where reason No. 2 comes in. There are six ranked Big Ten teams in the coaches poll and the Cornhuskers play only two: No. 14 Michigan at home early and No. 3 Penn State on the road late. Overall, the Huskers have five Big Ten home games. That's a manageable path for QB Dylan Raiola and Co. — Ralph D. Russo. What an alternate universe we're living in to consider Oklahoma a sleeper. But the Sooners have been sleepy recently. While one can argue that no head coach in college football is under more pressure than Brent Venables, he did make two of the splashiest offseason moves of the year by hiring offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle and signing Superman impersonator quarterback John Mateer from Washington State. The Sooners had a wild string of bad luck at a historically talent-rich position at WR in 2024. If Mateer has a bunch of typical OU receivers to throw to — in addition to handing the ball off to Cal transfer Jaydn Ott — the Sooners should be appointment TV. On the flip side: Their 2025 schedule is brutal? Guess it boils down to how much Mateer can channel his A&M-era Manziel and keep the Sooners in 50-48-style games. — Christopher Kamrani The Cardinals went 9-4 a season ago and even upset ACC champion Clemson on the road. Jeff Brohm's teams have proven they can compete with anyone in the ACC, and 2025 should be no exception. Advertisement Miller Moss takes over at quarterback after transferring from USC, where he threw for 2,555 yards last year, and reigning ACC Rookie of the Year Isaac Brown returns at running back. The wide receivers should be strong with Chris Bell and Caullin Lacy, and the Cardinals' top two tacklers are back, as well, in linebackers TJ Quinn and Stanquan Clark. Matchups against Miami, Clemson and SMU will give the Cardinals three chances to pick up crucial wins on the national stage. — Grace Raynor The Utes had a disappointing and injury-ravaged 5-7 season in 2024, including just 2-7 in their inaugural year of Big 12 play. Predicting a Utah bounce-back means betting on head coach Kyle Whittingham, who is coming off just his third losing season in two decades with the Utes, and pushing in the chips on a new-look offense. Whittingham hired offensive coordinator Jason Beck away from New Mexico, and Beck brought the Lobos' dynamic dual-threat quarterback Devon Dampier along with him. The combination of Dampier playing behind arguably the best offensive line in the country (anchored by left tackle Spencer Fano), Whittingham's consistently stout defense and a tantalizingly wide-open Big 12 should give Utah a reasonable road to the Playoff. — Justin Williams Brent Key has already brought the Yellow Jackets back to respectability. This isn't a five star-laden roster, nor one built through the portal. But Key has built along the lines and has a lot of good pieces back, most notably QB Haynes King, a three-year starter whose dual-threat abilities are a problem for defense. But the biggest reason for optimism is the schedule: The only two preseason ranked opponents are Clemson and Georgia, both of which are in Atlanta. (Georgia is at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.) There's a path to the 10-2 record the Jackets would probably need to make the CFP, starting with the opener at Colorado, which is a chance to make a good first impression. — Seth Emerson Advertisement After years of jokes about Iowa's offensive ineptitude, what if that unit is (more or less) fixed? Transfer quarterback Mark Gronowski led South Dakota State to back-to-back FCS national titles and finished with more than 10,000 passing yards and 37 rushing touchdowns during his Jackrabbits tenure. Surely he can boost an offense that hasn't cracked the top 50 in passing efficiency since 2017. Assuming Iowa's defense continues to be strong — which seems like a safe enough bet — a good-enough offense can make the Hawkeyes an upper-middle class Big Ten team. With arguably their three toughest conference opponents (Indiana, Penn State and Oregon) all visiting Kinnick Stadium, the Hawkeyes have an unlikely but feasible path to the CFP. — Matt Baker Jedd Fisch quietly put together one of the season's best coaching jobs last year. He took over the defending CFP runner-up that lost 21 of 22 starters and led it to a bowl game. This year, the Huskies have one of the Big Ten's best trio of skill players in running back Jonah Coleman (1,053 rushing yards), receiver Denzel Boston (834 receiving yards, nine touchdowns) and potential breakout star Demond Williams at quarterback. The defense also should be much improved. Washington plays four teams currently ranked in the top 14 of the coaches poll, but it hosts Ohio State in September, the Michigan (away)/Illinois (home) doubleheader takes place in late October and the finale against archrival Oregon is at home. — Scott Dochterman It's been a disappointing first two seasons under Hugh Freeze, both ending with losing records. The Tigers are a combined 5-11 in SEC play under Freeze and are 10-22 in the conference over the past four years. Their inability to win close games has been a big problem, as they're 2-8 in games decided by 10 points or less under Freeze, but I feel like things are ready to swing back in the other direction. Freeze knows how to win in the SEC, and I think he starts to get it rolling in 2025. This is the best O-line the Tigers have had in years. They have some dynamic players outside in Cam Coleman and Eric Singleton Jr. It's a favorable situation for a new quarterback to step into, and it's a talented group of options featuring Oklahoma transfer Jackson Arnold, Stanford transfer Ashton Daniels and Deuce Knight, a freakish freshman, who could be special in this system before too long. On defense, Keldric Faulk has the tools to be a dominant D-lineman and should cause fits for opposing offenses. He's the headliner of what looks like a tough defensive front, and there's plenty of speed and experience in the back end. The season opener at Baylor will be tricky. The schedule isn't easy, but Auburn doesn't play Texas or LSU and gets Georgia and Alabama at home at least. — Bruce Feldman What does Navy have to do to get some respect around here? Apparently winning 10 games last season — including a 31-13 thumping of rival and AAC champ Army, a wild 56-44 besting of Memphis, routs at Air Force and South Florida and an Armed Forces Bowl triumph over Oklahoma — isn't enough. Nor is returning senior true dual-threat quarterback Blake Horvath, backfield standouts Eli Heidenreich and Alex Tecza, star nose tackle Landon Robinson and a host of other key players from 2024. Advertisement Robinson landed on Bruce Feldman's Freaks List for a third straight year; it would be borderline freakish for this Brian Newberry-coached Navy team to end up short of another 10 wins given its quality and its schedule. — Joe Rexrode Kansas and preseason expectations don't always go together. The Jayhawks had some preseason buzz last year after going 9-4 in Lance Leipold's third season, but that quickly faded amid a 2-6 start. Quarterback Jalon Daniels had a disappointing season after an injury-plagued 2023, and the Jayhawks had a rocky transition from offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki to Jeff Grimes. Looking ahead to 2025, Daniels is back, Grimes is off to Wisconsin and the Jayhawks are unveiling a long-awaited stadium renovation. Maybe this is their year. It will be fun to see what new offensive coordinator Jim Zebrowski can do with Daniels and running back Daniel Hinshaw Jr., the No. 21 player on Feldman's Freaks List. There's no dominant team in the Big 12, and the Jayhawks avoid playing defending champion Arizona State in the regular season. The schedule sets up decently well for a dark-horse run to the CFP if Kansas can get past Missouri in a renewal of the Border War. — Austin Meek Few remember that Pitt started 7-0 last season, and with good reason. The Panthers did not win another game after that. But an avalanche of injuries down the stretch, especially on the offensive line, helps explain why Pitt went from averaging 42.3 points during those first seven games to 19.2 over its last five-regular season games. Pat Narduzzi's team has a lot of continuity, starting with breakout quarterback Eli Holstein. OC Kade Bell is back after installing a more wide-open attack. And believe it or not, Pitt returns two All-Americans: Running back Desmond Reid, who ranked fifth nationally in all-purpose yards (154.9), and linebacker Kyle Louis (101 tackles, 15 TFLs), along with All-ACC linebacker Rasheem Biles (82 tackles, 15 TFLs). Perhaps Pitt, which faces Notre Dame and Miami at home and does not get Clemson, could be this year's SMU in the ACC. — Stewart Mandel (Top photos of Dylan Raiola and Cam Coleman: Sean M. Haffey, Michael Chang / Getty Images)


New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
What we learned from Netflix's SEC football documentary, ‘Any Given Saturday'
These appeared to be the final days of the Billy Napier era at Florida. So much so that a Gator fan can be heard yelling 'Bye, Billy,' as the beleaguered coach walked off the field following a loss last October to Texas A&M. An awkward moment caught by a Netflix camera crew, which was still filming minutes later when Napier addressed his team in the locker room. Advertisement 'It's critical that we stick together. It's going to be hell out there,' Napier tells his players, pointing at the walls. 'It's going to be hell on the outside. Do not allow them to divide us.' This was one of several locker room scenes caught by Netflix cameras, who followed around a majority of SEC teams last year. There is South Carolina coach Shane Beamer, after a close loss to LSU, telling his team, 'we let their ass off the hook.' There is Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea, in his pregame speech before an upset of Auburn, claiming he overheard an Auburn coach tell his players, 'they're still Vanderbilt and we're still Auburn.' 'Think about that s—!' Lea shouts at his players. 'This is absolutely about earning some goddamn respect.' And in quieter moments, there is Arkansas coach Sam Pittman talking frankly about a game being important to keep his job. There is Beamer's wife, Emily, saying she doesn't like to leave the house and face people in the community after a loss. And the cameras are on inside LSU coach Brian Kelly's car as he talks with his agent Trace Armstrong, who also represents Garrett Nussmeier, about whether the LSU QB should turn pro. 'Interesting world we live in,' Kelly tells someone off-camera after the call ends. 'He's my agent. But he's representing players that are on my team.' SEC Football: Any Given Saturday, a Netflix Sports series offering an exclusive look at key matchups throughout the SEC season, premieres August 5. Witness the unparalleled pressure, commitment, and raw emotion it takes to be a D1 football player in college football's leading… — Netflix (@netflix) July 14, 2025 Netflix has scored hits with sports documentaries going behind the scenes on Formula One, the PGA Tour and the NFL in recent years, among others. Now college football gets its turn: 'Any Given Saturday' is available on Netflix starting Aug. 5, with a seven-episode run that covers the 2024 season through an SEC lens. Advertisement Formula One gained popularity in the U.S. after 'Drive to Survive' debuted in 2019. Paul Martin, the English executive producer for Box to Box Films, which produced both 'Drive to Survive' and 'Any Given Saturday,' was asked if they were aiming to do the reverse this time, bringing college football to a worldwide audience. 'I think the truth of it is when we're making these shows, I try not to think about who the audience is going to be,' Martin said. 'As we never did on Formula One, we never sat down and said, 'Hey, can we do a show that really introduces the sport to an American audience. We just went out and we made what we thought was the best show possible, and hopefully people get on board with that and see that and agree that they like it. We certainly want to keep the SEC fans happy. It would be great if new fans come in.' SEC coaches are notorious for their secrecy, and six of the conference's biggest brands — Texas, Georgia, Alabama, Ole Miss, Missouri and Oklahoma — chose not to let Netflix film them. The series does suffer from not having those big brands. Tennessee was the only College Football Playoff participant that allowed Netflix to film, and its presence seems tacked-on, making only a late appearance in the final episode. But the series does have compelling moments. South Carolina and Vanderbilt, which had the two most surprising, feel-good seasons, are prominently featured. Napier's escape from the hot seat — at least for one year — is well chronicled in the second episode. So is Florida's quarterback switch from Graham Mertz to DJ Lagway — and Mertz let Netflix cameras come in the room as he prepared for ACL surgery. 'You're the first person to ever shave my leg,' Mertz tells a nurse technician. The show, released as preseason practice before 2025 begins, may be about the 2024 season, but most of the players featured are back, including Lagway, Nussmeier, South Carolina QB LaNorris Sellers, Vanderbilt QB Diego Pavia, Auburn WR Cam Coleman and LSU LB Whit Weeks. And with no SEC head coaches being fired last season, all the coaches are back, too. The episodes delve into how close some came to not being back. Pittman, speaking before Arkansas faced then-No. 5 Tennessee last October, is frank about his job status, if not for him, for people like his administrative assistant, Izzy Dunn. 'I want to decide when I want to walk out of here. Because I don't want these people in this building getting fired,' Pittman says. 'The head coach gets $10, $15 million to get fired. That lady out there (Dunn), she gets nothing. Two weeks (severance). So this week feels like a really big game.' Advertisement Arkansas ends up getting the win, which is a shared focus of the third episode — along with Vanderbilt's upset of Alabama. That was a lucky break for the show, which had to be choosy about where it went and happened to have a crew there for that game. The production had four separate pods of crews, spread around the SEC footprint. They couldn't be everywhere with all 10 teams, so they had to be strategic with games and practices. There's a lot that didn't make the cut, and some teams (such as Kentucky) hardly got airtime. Recognizable college football personalities — Paul Finebaum, Andy Staples and Alyssa Lang — serve to set the scene. There's plenty of football; the camera shots are mostly via the sideline, so it's not just television replays. But the on-field action comprises a small part of the series. And lest it seem pure SEC propaganda, the first episode homes in on LSU losing to Southern California, and the second episode opens with Florida losing to Miami. The latter sets up the story of Napier's seeming fall, with Gator fans clamoring for Lagway to start, and Napier eventually pulling out of it. 'Credit to Florida, when you would fully expect them to shut down, because they were under so much pressure internally and externally, they let us keep the cameras rolling,' Martin said. Martin described himself as a longtime Miami Dolphins fan and had lived in Los Angeles. So American football wasn't foreign to him, but he had 'never really gotten into college football,' he said. A contact at Creative Artists Agency, who was a 'Drive to Survive' fan, suggested Martin do a college football documentary. When Martin said he wouldn't know where to start, CAA suggested the SEC, which used CAA to sell its media rights. An introduction was made to SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, with discussions beginning in the summer of 2023. They went to an athletic director's meeting in North Carolina, and then a coaches meeting in Birmingham, Ala., along with Netflix officials, presenting the vision to the coaches. Advertisement The filming was done quietly, with Netflix and the SEC not officially announcing the deal until after the season. 'I mean, it was great,' said Taurean York, a linebacker at Texas A&M who was filmed with his family eating Thanksgiving dinner. 'The crew ran it the right way. They mic'd you up for practice. They watched practice. They had you doing stuff after practice with them. They just want to see what it was like to be a Division I football player.' Pavia, the Vanderbilt quarterback, is one of the brash co-stars of the show, dishing out one-liners about Auburn coach Hugh Freeze ('He had an opportunity to recruit me. But he didn't') and Alabama ('I know it's Alabama and they got six first-rounders. Well I'm a first-rounder in my mind. You've gotta be a little psychotic, you know what I mean?') But Pavia is, in one scene, dinged by one of his teammates. During a film session, an unidentified teammate playfully — maybe — tells him: 'You don't do s— at practice. You sit and practice and run around and talk s—.' When Pavia asks about run plays, the teammate says: 'Those are fake rushes. We don't use those in the game.' In another episode, Texas A&M and Mississippi State are featured leading into rivalry games against Texas and Ole Miss. Both games go the wrong way for the team Netflix featured. That's a theme: This is not a series meant to highlight just the winners. It's also a byproduct of the winning teams not participating, another reason some of the season's biggest games — Georgia-Texas, Georgia-Alabama — are not in the series. 'You never get everyone in the first season,' Martin said. 'For whatever reason, some people just want to see what it's going to look like. Some people feel like, 'hey, listen, I might win this thing this year, and I don't want any distractions.' And we fully respect anyone's decision to be in it or not.' Yes, Martin said 'first season.' And if it returns for a second, it would likely be the SEC. That makes the response to the series intriguing: Does the series do so well that Texas, Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma, Ole Miss and Missouri feel like they missed out? Another season, and a shot at more programs, would produce even more compelling stories. 'Hopefully we'll get to do some more,' Martin said. 'You've got to find an audience for it. But I think the audience will be there.' (Top photo of Napier: James Gilbert / Getty Images for ONIT)
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Penn State football pressure: 4 preseason camp requirements to be a true title contender
Penn State football appears to have more at its disposal, than ever, to win its first national championship in four decades. First, they boast more talent and experience − and in key places − than ever before under coach James Franklin. And they may have college football's top coordinators running offense and defense. They also own a favorable schedule, have an ever-growing list of preseason honors and the backing of the national media pundits who are logging more predictions than ever for the Lions to win the Big Ten and even the College Football Playoff. So how do they put all of the expectations together before the Aug. 30 season-opener? Here are four things these Lions must accomplish in preseason camp, which starts Wednesday: Penn State football: Build more than Drew Allar's next step at quarterback The "big-game" development of senior Drew Allar is being regarded as the most important piece in PSU's Big Ten and national championship aspirations. Of course, he has a month of intense workouts to further his relationships and connections with his three critical transfer receivers − and the rest of the Lions' returning room. The pass game must be elevated and on-point to win marquee games. But there's also this: How prepared are Penn State backups Ethan Grunkemeyer and Jaxon Smolik? Both have nearly no on-field game experience. Both are an injury away from leading a national-title caliber team. Their August growth may prove monumental − as will their use in expected blowout victories against Nevada, Florida International and Vilanova to start the season. Make wide receivers trusted weapons again The Penn State receivers, for the first time in three seasons, must be reliable, productive weapons. Will the transfers finally hit big this time? Penn State doesn't necessarily need new, senior wideouts Trebor Pena, Donte Ross and Kyron Hudson to become All-Big Ten stars. They must, though, be capable, dependable pass-catchers who will make clutch plays. Allar didn't have that last season − a glaring weakness in its three biggest games, all defeats. Of course, the fan base will be skeptical until proven otherwise. The Lions' past few transfer wideouts offered little production after significant hype: Julian Fleming (Ohio State), Dante Cephus (Kent State) and Malik McClain (Florida State). Find answers on the defensive line The Nittany Lions boast two of the top defensive linemen in the nation − senior edge rusher Dani Dennis-Sutton and tackle Zane Durant. But can the supporting cast be championship-caliber? While a handful have intriguing upsides, all are unproven. That begins with expected new starters, edge Zuriah Fisher and tackle Alonzo Ford. Both are coming off significant injuries and neither has been a first-line player on the Power 4 level yet. The most promising replacement piece, edge Max Granville, is out with a "long-term" injury. Still, the Lions' rotation must include six reliable "new" linemen, at the least, by the opener. The leading candidates? Start with tackles Ty Blanding (redshirt sophomore) and Xavier Gilliam and transfer Owen Wafle (redshirt freshmen). On the edge, we'll be watching transfer Enai White (redshirt junior), Jaylen Harvey (redshirt freshman) and Yvan Kemajou (true freshman). Find a No. 3 running back The Lions are blessed with one of their best running back tandems in school history. But who will step up when Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen need a break or miss time with an injury? Their success (both are in line to become Penn State's all-time leading rusher), ultimately, has been fueled by their partnership. So a third and even fourth option may be critical. And as on the defensive line, this crowded room is promising but relatively unproven. The most highly regarded, for now, are redshirt freshmen Quinton Martin and Corey Smith (35 combined carries in 2024), redshirt sophomore Cam Wallace (returning from season-ending injury) and rookie Tikey Hayes. Frank Bodani covers Penn State football for the York Daily Record and USA Today Network. Contact him at fbodani@ and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @YDRPennState. This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: 4 things James Franklin, Penn State football must do in preseason camp