NCAA Tournament 2021: First Round Schedule, Odds, and Best Bets

This week, March Madness 2021 officially gets underway in Indiana. A total of 68 teams are hoping for enough momentum to push through the field and cut down the nets for the NCAA men’s basketball title. Among the hopefuls are No. 1-seeded squads, including Baylor, Gonzaga, Michigan, and Illinois. We’ve got the official NCAA Tournament 2021 matchup schedule along with odds and our top picks for the upcoming games.

NCAA Tournament 2021 opens with First Four

The tournament’s matchups begin this Thursday with coverage on truTV and TBS. Eight teams participate in four games on the 18th. These matchups will determine the No. 11 and No. 16 seeds that play in the bigger bracket against higher seeds. Check out our NCAA tournament bracket report for more coverage of the men’s field.

Thursday, March 18 matchups

#16 Texas Southern (pk) vs. #16 Mount St. Mary’s (pk) | 5:10 p.m. ET (truTV)
#11 Drake vs. #11 Wichita State (-1.5) | 6:27 p.m. ET (TBS)
#16 Appalachian State (-3) vs. #16 Norfolk State | 8:40 p.m. ET (truTV)
#11 UCLA vs. #11 Michigan State (-2) | 9:57 p.m. ET (TBS)

First Round Schedule stars Friday, March 18

The first-round matchup games will arrive on Friday and Saturday. Games are televised as early as 12:15 p.m. Eastern Time with CBS, truTV, TBS, and TNT providing coverage of the first round.

Among teams in action will be No. 1 seeds Illinois and Baylor. However, viewers also get to see arguably the nation’s top star in Oklahoma State’s Cade Cunningham, along with teams capable of going deep like UCONN and Purdue.

Here’s a look at what’s on the way with times, odds, and TV channels.

Friday, March 19 matchups:
#10 Virginia Tech (pk) vs. # 7 Florida (pk) | 12:15 PM on CBS (South)
#14 Colgate vs. #3 Arkansas (-9) | 12:45 PM on truTV (South)
#16 Drexel vs. #1 Illinois (-22.5) | 1:15 PM on TBS (Midwest)
#11 Utah State vs. #6 Texas Tech (-5) | 1:45 PM TNT (South)
#15 Oral Roberts vs. #2 Ohio State (-16.5) | 3:00 PM on CBS (South)
#16 Hartford vs. #1 Baylor (-26) | 3:30 PM truTV (South)
#9 Georgia Tech vs. #8 Loyola Chicago (-2.5) | 4:00 PM TBS (Midwest)
#12 Oregon State vs. #5 Tennessee (-7.5) | 4:30 PM TNT (Midwest)
#13 Liberty vs. #4 Oklahoma State (-7.5) | 6:25 PM TBS (Midwest)
#9 Wisconsin vs. #8 North Carolina (-1.5) | 7:10 PM CBS (South)
#15 Cleveland State vs. #2 Houston (-20) | 7:15 PM truTV (Midwest)
#13 North Texas vs. #4 Purdue (-7.5) | 7:25 PM TNT (South)
#10 Rutgers (-1) vs. #7 Clemson | 9:20 PM TBS (Midwest)
#11 Syracuse vs. #6 San Diego State (-3) | 9:40 PM CBS (Midwest)
#14 Morehead State vs. #3 West Virginia (-12.5) | 9:50 PM truTV (Midwest)
#12 Winthrop vs. #5 Villanova (-6.5) | 9:57 PM TNT (South)

Saturday, March 20 matchups

As of this report, the No. 1 seeds for Saturday’s opening matchups don’t have opponents. So Michigan and Gonzaga are waiting to see who emerges with wins on Thursday night. Meanwhile, other top seeds in action will include No. 3 seeds Texas and Kansas, as well as No. 2 seeds Alabama and Iowa.

#12 Georgetown vs. #5 Colorado (-5) | 12:15 PM CBS (East)
#13 UNC Greensboro vs. #4 Florida State (-10.5) | 12:45 PM truTV (East)
#14 Eastern Washington vs. #3 Kansas (-10.5) | 1:15 PM TBS (West)
#9 St. Bonaventure vs. #8 LSU (-1.5) | 1:45 PM TNT (East)
TBD vs. #1 Michigan | 3:00 PM CBS (East)
#12 UC Santa Barbara vs. #5 Creighton (-7.5) | 3:30 PM truTV (West)
#15 Iona vs. #2 Alabama (-16.5) | 4:00 PM TBS (East)
TBD vs. #6 USC | 4:30 PM TNT (West)
#15 Grand Canyon vs. #2 Iowa (-14.5) | 6:25 PM TBS (West)
#10 Maryland vs. #7 UConn (-3) | 7:10 PM CBS (East)
#13 Ohio vs. #4 Virginia (-7) | 7:15 PM truTV (West)
#9 Missouri vs. #8 Oklahoma (-2) | 7:25 PM TNT (West)
TBD vs. #1 Gonzaga | 9:20 PM TBS (West)
TBD vs. #6 BYU | 9:40 PM CBS (East)
#14 Abilene Christian vs. #3 Texas (-8.5) | 9:50 PM truTV (East)
#10 VCU vs. #7 Oregon (-5.5) | 9:57 PM TNT (West)

For those who don’t have a cable or satellite service, consider using an online streaming service. One of the best and least expensive options is SlingTV service with a free trial offer for new customers. Other options include fuboTV, Hulu with Live TV, and YouTube TV.

Keep in mind, each of these has different channel packages or lineups as well as promotional offers, so check out each site for more details.

Where to bet NCAA Tournament games & our top picks

Our preferred online wager destination is the BetUS sportsbook which has been operating for 25 years now. They currently offer a number of great promotional bonuses for customers including a 125 percent sign-up bonus and a 150 percent crypto bonus for bettors.

No matter where you chose to wager, all that matters is picking more winners than losers! That’s what we do here at Sports Odds Digest. We have had great success on our Two for Tuesday picks and nailed the Bucs big win over the Chiefs. Now let’s keep that trend rolling through March Madness!

Picks: