Early rounds of the NCAA Division III men’s and women’s basketball tournaments are available as free streams through the NCAA Championships Pass but that changes after the second weekend.
The shift in platform can cause confusion, especially in the past when games would sometimes be on CBS Sports Network and sometimes be streaming-only and in either case generally required a cable or satellite television subscription with an extra sports tier to gain access.
The situation became more straightforward starting in 2025 when Division III men’s and women’s basketball championships went to ESPN as part of the NCAA’s eight-year media rights deal. In a typical year, ESPN will pick up the semifinals and championship games to put on their platform but with the change to the men’s tournament schedule because their championship game will be played as part of a combined championship weekend with Divisions I and II, quarterfinal as well as semifinal games played in Fort Wayne, Indiana will air on ESPN+.
Games will air live on ESPN+ and access is just a matter of whether or not you’re a subscriber. The good news is it is hardly an obscure streaming service and one many people already may have access to, whether directly or as part of a bundle with Hulu or Disney. Even if not, a month of ESPN+ is just a few bucks per game if all you wanted to get out of it was to watch the final games of this D3 basketball season. Just be sure to confirm or secure access ahead of time instead of having to work through that as the games are tipping off on Thursday.
Here is the remaining tournament schedule along with direct links to the ESPN+ event pages where the individual games can be found.
Men’s Quarterfinals – Thursday March 19, 2026
Christopher Newport vs. St. Thomas – 1 pm ET (ESPN+)
Illinois Wesleyan vs. Emory – 3:30 pm ET (ESPN+)
Tufts vs. Trinity (CT) – 6:30 pm ET (ESPN+)
Chicago vs. Mary Washington – 9:00 pm ET (ESPN+)
Men’s Semifinals – Saturday March 21, 2026
Quarterfinal 1 winner vs. Quarterfinal 2 winner – 5:30 pm (ESPN+)
Quarterfinal 3 winner vs. Quarterfinal 4 winner – 8:00 pm ET (ESPN+)
Men’s Championship Game – Sunday April 5, 2026
Semifinal 1 winner vs. Semifinal 2 winner – 4:30 pm ET (ESPN+)
Women’s Semifinals – Thursday March 19, 2026
Denison vs. UW-Oshkosh – 5 pm ET (ESPN+)
Scranton vs. NYU – 7:30 pm ET (ESPN+)
Women’s Championship Game – Saturday March 21, 2026
Semifinal 1 winner vs. Semifinal 2 winner – 4 pm ET (ESPN+)
Fans able to attend in person can get tickets in advance. Tickets for the Men’s Basketball Championship in Fort Wayne, IN are available through Ticketmaster.
Online ticket sales for the Women’s Basketball Championship in Salem, VA are available through Hometown Ticketing.
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