The television schedule for the 2011 NCAA Tournament was released by CBS and Turner Sports on Thursday, and for the first time ever, every March Madness game will be televised. This is big news for college hoops fans.
For years, part of what makes March Madness so "maddening" has been trying to keep track of every game, and finding sports bars or satellite dishes to help watch your favorite team. Now, that's all overwith. With the NCAA's new television contract, every game will be televised across four networks: CBS, TNT, TBS, and TruTV.
Sports Illustrated's Richard Deitsch has the details for the first round:
The scheduled start times for these games on March 17 and 18 are as follows: noon (CBS), 12:30 p.m. (truTV), 1:30 p.m. (TBS) and 2 p.m. (TNT). The second set of games begin at 2:30 p.m. (CBS), 3 p.m. (truTV), 4 p.m. (TBS) and 4:30 p.m. (TNT).
Then we get to prime time. TBS opens the coverage with a 6:45 p.m. tip-off followed by games at 7 p.m. (CBS), 7:15 p.m. (TNT and truTV). The final games of the night begin at 9:15 p.m. (TBS), 9:30 p.m. (CBS), 9:45 p.m. (TNT), and 9:55 p.m. (truTV).