Three Indianapolis venues will help crown four champions over a five-day period when the Men’s Final Four and National Invitation Tournament semifinals and championship games, as well as the Division II and III title games, are staged April 2-6. It will mark the first time all four champions will be determined in a single city.
The action begins Thursday, April 2, when the NIT national semifinals are played at iconic Hinkle Fieldhouse on the Butler campus. The first game starts at 7 p.m. and will be televised nationally on ESPN. The second game is scheduled to begin at 9:30 p.m. and will air on ESPN2.
The 87th NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship begins March 17 with the First Four and after two nights of action in Dayton, Ohio, first- and second-round games take place March 19-22 in Buffalo, New York; Greenville, South Carolina; Oklahoma City; Philadelphia; Portland, Oregon; San Diego; St. Louis; and Tampa, Florida. Regional rounds will be played March 26-29 in Chicago; Houston; San Jose, California; and Washington, D.C., while the Final Four comes to Indianapolis for a ninth time Saturday, April 4. The first national semifinal is set for 6 p.m., with the second game scheduled for 8:30 p.m. Both games will be played at Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Indianapolis Colts, and will air on TBS, in partnership with CBS Sports.
Typically, Sunday at the Final Four is a time for basketball fans to catch their collective breath. That will not be the case in 2026, as three champions will be crowned on Easter Sunday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, the home of the Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever. The tripleheader begins at 1 p.m. with the Division II national championship, which will be carried by CBS. The Division III title game follows at 4:30 p.m. and will be available on ESPN+, while the NIT championship game is slated for 8 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN2.
The action concludes with the national championship game at 8:30 p.m. Monday at Lucas Oil Stadium. TBS will be the broadcast home for the title game.
TNT Sports and CBS Sports will broadcast the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship, providing exclusive live coverage of every game in its entirety across CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV.
Tickets to the NIT semifinals and championship game, the Division II and III championship games, and all rounds of the NCAA tournament can be purchased by visiting ncaa.com/mbbtickets.
“There isn’t a city in the country better suited to host these basketball championships than Indianapolis,” said Dan Gavitt, the NCAA’s senior vice president of basketball. “No state loves its basketball more than Indiana, so to be able to stage all of these games right in the heart of Indianapolis is going to create a memorable five-day weekend of college basketball for our community and state, fans who will be in town to visit, and for the athletes fortunate enough to get to play in these games.”
