NCAA Tournament 2026: TV info, tipoff times revealed for SEC Round 1 games
By David Wasson
Published:
The 68-team field was set for the 2026 NCAA Tournament on Sunday night, and CBS has now announced tipoff times and television information for all 32 first-round games.
The SEC is represented by 10 teams in the March Madness field – Florida, Arkansas, Alabama, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Texas A&M, Missouri and Texas. For reference, that is the most from any conference but also four fewer SEC teams than the record 14 that made the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
The Gators are the top seed in the South Bracket and will take on the winner of the Prairie View A&M-Lehigh First Four game Friday in Tampa at 9:25 pm ET on TNT. Fourth-seeded Arkansas, the SEC Tournament champions, will play No. 13 seed Hawaii in the West Bracket in Portland on Thursday at 4:25 pm ET on TBS.
Fourth-seeded Alabama begins its NCAA Tournament run with 13th-seeded Hofstra in the Midwest Bracket in Tampa on Friday at 3:15 pm ET on TruTV. Fifth-seeded Vanderbilt will play 12th-seeded McNeese in the South Bracket in Oklahoma City on Thursday at 3:15 pm on TruTV.
Sixth-seeded Tennessee plays the winner of 11th-seeded SMU and 11th-seeded Miami (OH) game on Friday in the Midwest Bracket at 4:25 pm ET on TBS. Seventh-seeded Kentucky plays 10th-seeded Santa Clara in the Midwest Region in St. Louis on Friday at 12:15 pm ET on CBS.
Eighth-seeded Georgia plays ninth-seeded Saint Louis in the Midwest Region in Buffalo on Thursday at 9:45 pm on CBS. Tenth-seeded Texas A&M plays seventh-seeded Saint Mary’s in the South Regional in Oklahoma City on Thursday at 7:35 pm ET on TruTV.
Tenth-seeded Missouri plays seventh-seeded Miami in the West Regional in St. Louis on Friday at 10:10 pm ET on TruTV. And 11th-seeded Texas will play 11th-seeded NC State in a First Four game in Dayton on Tuesday at 9:15 pm ET on TruTV.
An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.
