Why You Can Trust CNET Women's March Madness 2024: How to Watch, Stream Caitlin Clark and Iowa Tonight
JuJu Waktins and USC are also in action today as the second round of the women's tournament continues. Find out the best way to watch or stream all the games today without cable.
Caitlin Clark is the best story in college basketball if not all of basketball. The sensational Iowa guard leads the nation in points and assists and broke scoring records seemingly every other week of the season. Clark now reigns as the NCAA Division 1's all-time leading scorer -- men's or women's -- and has led the Hawkeyes to a top seed for March Madness alongside South Carolina, USC and Texas.
Iowa won its opening game and faces No. 8 West Virginia in the second round tonight at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT) on ESPN.
As spectacular as Clark has been, she's not the only reason to tune into the women's tournament this year. The state of women's college basketball has never been stronger. Paige Bueckers was Caitlin Clark before Caitlin Clark. She was named the national player of the year as a freshman and is now back to full strength for UConn after missing her sophomore season last year to a knee injury.
Read more: How to Watch the Men's March Madness Tournament Without Cable
Meanwhile, several supremely talented freshmen have made impacts this season and ensure that the sport will continue to grow after Clark leaves for the WNBA. JuJu Watkins is averaging nearly 27 points per game for USC -- second only to Clark -- and Notre Dame's Hannah Hidalgo is fourth in the nation in scoring, while MiLaysia Fulwiley has helped lead a balanced South Carolina team to an undefeated regular season. Then there are the defending champs in LSU, led by juniors Angel Reese and Aneesah Morrow and freshman guard Mikaylah Williams.
Here's everything you need to know to watch the women's March Madness tournament, from the opening weekend to the Final Four and the National Championship game.
Caitlin Clark will play her final game in Iowa City tonight when No. 1 Iowa takes on No. 8 West Virginia.
What's the women's tournament schedule for today?
Here's the full schedule for today's second-round games (all times ET).
Monday, March 25
- No. 2 Notre Dame vs. No. 7 Ole Miss, 2 p.m. on ESPN
- No. 3 NC State vs. No. 6 Tennessee, 4 p.m. on ESPN
- No. 3 UConn vs. No. 6 Syracuse, 6 p.m. on ESPN
- No. 4 Indiana vs. No. 5 Oklahoma, 6:30 p.m. on ESPN2
- No. 1 Iowa vs. No. 8 West Virginia, 8 p.m. on ESPN
- No. 2 UCLA vs. No. 7 Creighton, 8:30 p.m. on ESPN2
- No. 1 Southern Cal vs. No. 8 Kansas, 10 p.m. on ESPN
- No. 4 Gonzaga vs. No. 5 Utah, 10:30 p.m. on ESPN2
What is the women's March Madness tournament schedule?
Here's the remaining schedule, round by round:
- Second round: March 24 to 25.
- Sweet 16: March 29 to 30.
- Elite Eight: March 31 to April 1.
- Final Four: Friday, April 5.
- NCAA championship game: Sunday, April 7.
The first two rounds will be held on campus sites at the school of the higher seed. Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games will be played in Albany, New York and Portland, Oregon. The Final Four and national championship will be played at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse (home of the Cleveland Cavaliers) in Cleveland, Ohio.
What does the Women's NCAA tournament bracket look like?
You can check out the official bracket to see all the matchups and figure out who might make it to the Final Four.
South Carolina hasn't lost since meeting Iowa in last year's Final Four. The two schools find themselves on opposite sides of the bracket this year, which means they could meet in the national championship. Caitlin Clark and the Hawkeyes face a potential Elite Eight matchup against the defending champs in No. 3 LSU, so their path back to the Final Four is far from assured.
When does Iowa and Caitlin Clark play next?
The Hawkeyes won their first-round game against Holy Cross with Clark scoring 27 points and dishing out 10 assists. Next up for Iowa is No. 8 West Virginia in primetime tonight. The game is scheduled to start on Monday at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT) on ESPN.
How can I watch the women's March Madness tournament?
Unlike the men's tournament, which airs on CBS and Turner networks (TNT, TBS, TruTV) the women's tournament will once again be shown across the ESPN family of channels: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNews and ABC.
Games will also be streamed live on ESPN Plus, but not until the Final Four. Only the two semifinal games and the national championship will be shown on ESPN Plus.
What are my women's March Madness streaming options?
The best live TV streaming service for watching the women's tournament is YouTube TV. It offers all four ESPN channels and ABC in its base plan, which costs $73 a month, and it offers multi-view so you can watch up to four games at once.
Fubo is the only other service with multiview, but it costs more than YouTube TV and then forces you to pay extra to add ESPNU and ESPNews. Similarly, DirectTV Stream's base plan costs more than YouTube TV's and doesn't include ESPNU or ESPNews. Sling TV is also a poor choice because it offers ABC in only a handful of markets.
That leaves Hulu with Live TV as the second-best choice. It lacks multiview, but its $77-a-month base plan includes all five channels needed to watch any game of the women's tournament.
YouTube TV costs $73 a month and includes all five channels needed so you can watch any game of the tournament. It also offers multi-view so you can keep track of potential buzzer beaters of up to four games at once. Plug in your ZIP code on its welcome page to see which local networks are available in your area.
Hulu with Live TV costs $77 a month and includes all five channels needed for the women's tournament. Click the "View channels in your area" link on its welcome page to see which local channels are offered in your ZIP code.
End-of-tournament streaming option
If you only care about watching the last three games of the tournament, you can spend just $11 for a month of ESPN Plus for the Final Four and national championship.
ESPN's stand-alone streaming service costs $11 a month or $100 a year and will show both Final Four games and the National Championship game.
Each of the live TV streaming services above allows you to cancel anytime and requires a solid internet connection. Looking for more information? Check out our live TV streaming services guide.