Fans can watch select men’s NCAA college basketball games live on CBS and Paramount+ (with a subscription to the Paramount+ Premium plan). CBS’s 35-game schedule of regular-season and conference-championship action tips off Friday, Nov. 20, with Kentucky facing Indiana.
This guide will have you covered for the 2026-2027 college basketball season, from the regular season, to conference championships, including the Big Ten Conference Women’s Championship, and of course, March Madness®.
Not all college basketball games are carried by CBS and Paramount+, but you won’t want to miss the ones that are. For more information on game schedules, March Madness® and streaming games without cable, be sure to continue reading.
Key facts
2026–2027 NCAA college basketball season on CBS/Paramount+
- Channel: CBS (select live games)
- Streaming: Paramount+ with Paramount+ Premium plan (select live games airing on CBS)
- Coverage: Select regular-season games, conference championships, and NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament matchups to be announced
- March Madness® 2027: March 16–April 5, 2027
- Schedule: Game dates and start times vary; check the latest CBS Sports schedule
How to watch college basketball on CBS and Paramount+
When airing on your local CBS TV station, you can watch college basketball games on CBS and Paramount+ (with a subscription to the Paramount+ Premium plan).
You can watch on CBS by tuning your TV or device to your local CBS station using a digital antenna, cable or satellite, live-TV streaming service or Paramount+.
To watch CBS games on Paramount+, get started with your subscription to the Paramount+ Premium plan, or log into your account. On game days, go to Live TV, and look for the streaming feed of your local CBS station. You’ll find the game there.
The bottom line: CBS carries select, marquee college basketball games, and those games are also available to watch on your local CBS TV station, and stream on Paramount+ with a Paramount+ Premium subscription.
When are college basketball games on CBS?
CBS college basketball games air mainly on weekends, typically Saturdays, and to a lesser extent, Sundays. Its slate for the 2026-2027 season currently features 35 games, from the regular season through the conference championships, and starts with Kentucky vs. Indiana on Friday, Nov. 20.
All college basketball games airing live on CBS stream live on Paramount+ with a subscription to the Paramount+ Premium plan.
While CBS/Paramount+ (Paramount+ Premium plan) airs marquee college basketball games all season long, the schedule ramps up when the calendar enters the business end of the season: March Madness®.
In March 2027, CBS will air men’s Division I conference championship games for the Missouri Valley Conference (Sunday, March 7), the Mountain West Conference (Saturday, March 13), the Pac-12 Men’s Championship (Saturday, March 13), the Atlantic 10 Conference (Sunday, March 14), and Big Ten Conference (Sunday, March 14). CBS will also air the two men’s semifinal games for the Big Ten Conference (Saturday, March 13), the Big Ten Conference Women’s Championship (Sunday, March 7) and much more.
And when the calendar turns to March Madness®, CBS will air the Selection Show on Sunday, March 14, select games from the First Round, Second Round, Sweet 16 and Elite Eight®, before showing the National Semifinals and Championship in Detroit on April 3 and April 5..
Want more? When you add together the 2026-2027 college basketball coverage that’ll be presented and aired by CBS and the TNT Sports networks (TBS, TNT and truTV), you get a whopping 465 games -– from the regular season to conference tournament games, and all 75 games of the 2027 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.
CBS and TNT Sports are sister companies of Skydance. As all games aired on CBS stream live on Paramount+ (Paramount+ Premium plan), all games airing on TNT Sports’ TBS, TNT and truTV stream live on HBO Max.
How to stream games on Paramount+
You can stream college basketball games presented by CBS Sports, and airing on CBS, on Paramount+ with a Paramount+ Premium subscription.
Paramount+ Premium is one of two available Paramount+ subscription plans; the other is the Paramount+ Essential plan. The Paramount+ Premium plan gives you 24/7 access to your live, local CBS TV feed, and this means you can stream college basketball games airing on CBS. The Paramount+ Essential plan, by contrast, does not offer 24/7 access to your local CBS station, and, because of that, it does not give you streaming access to college basketball games airing on CBS.
So, if you want to stream a college basketball game airing on CBS on Paramount+, here’s a step-by-step look at what you need to do:
- Sign up for Paramount+.
- Pick the Paramount+ Premium plan.
- Go to the Live TV feed. Look for your local CBS station. From there, if the game’s on, then click in, and start streaming.
You can stream sports, movies, and shows on Paramount+ via the free Paramount+ app (or on a computer browser pointed to ParamountPlus.com) on supported devices like smart TVs, phones, tablets and computers.
Can I watch college basketball without cable?
Yes, you can watch college basketball without cable. Live-TV streaming services and satellite services, for instance, allow you to watch college basketball without cable. When games are aired on TV networks like CBS, ABC, NBC, and the CW, you can tune in those channels without cable using a digital antenna. And when games are aired on networks with sister streaming services, like CBS and Paramount+ (Paramount+ Premium plan), and TNT Sports and HBO Max, you can stream those games on the services – no cable subscription required.
Does Paramount+ have every college basketball game?
No, Paramount+ does not have every college basketball game. Paramount+ subscribers with the Paramount+ Premium plan can stream college basketball games that are presented by CBS Sports, and aired on CBS.
Where to find the game schedule
You can find the game schedule for the 2026-2027 college basketball season on CBSSports.com. Click here for the men’s college basketball schedule, here for the women’s college basketball schedule, and here for a schedule that includes TNT Sports listings. Remember, scheduling will evolve throughout the season, with postseason matchups still yet to be determined.
Watch college basketball on CBS and Paramount+
From the early goings of the season, to the intensity of the conference tournaments and mayhem of March Madness, CBS and Paramount+ (Paramount+ Premium plan) bring you college basketball matchups you won’t want to miss.
