Villanova-Kansas: Start time, how to watch and stream Final Four

Villanova has its eyes on a fourth national championship, but the Wildcats will first have to defeat No. 1 seed Kansas in Saturday’s Final Four matchup at the Superdome in New Orleans.

This is Villanova’s third appearance in the Final Four in the last six tournaments, and the fourth under newly casual head coach Jay Wright, who led the Wildcats to national championships in 2016 and 2018. Wright’s teams are 5-3 against Kansas under head coach Bill Self, including a blowout win in the 2018 semifinals.

» READ MORE: Follow our live coverage of Villanova-Kansas

“Jay Wright has proven that he knowns how to coach these NCAA tournament games, in terms of getting through 40 minutes with short rosters, with timeouts,” Inquirer college sports columnist Mike Jensen said in a preview of tonight’s game. “He’s not going to get the worse of any coaching matchup.”

Here’s everything you need to know to watch or stream the Final Four matchup between Villanova and Kansas:

The game is scheduled to begin at 6:09 p.m. Eastern, and will air live on TBS from the the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, home of the New Orleans Saints.

Calling the game will be Jim Nantz, Grant Hill, and Bill Raftery, with Tracy Wolfson reporting from the court. For Nantz and company, it’s their seventh time calling the NCAA Tournament together.

The game will also air on 94.1 WIP via Westwood One, with Kevin Kugler, PJ Carlesimo, and Clark Kellogg handling the broadcast. NBA Hall of Famer Bill Walton, a three-time NCAA player of the year, will be on hand to provide pregame, halftime, and postgame analysis.

» READ MORE: Villanova's path to the Final Four began with a snafu last April

Villanova-Kansas will air on TBS, and will also simulcast on TNT and truTV.

So why is Nantz, a longtime CBS announcer, calling games on cable? This year, both Final Four games and the national championship will air on TBS instead of CBS as part of the network’s combined NCAA television rights deal that began in 2016 and runs through 2024.

In even years, Turner has the TV rights for the Final Four and national championship game, while they broadcast on CBS during odd years. During Villanova’s two national championship runs in 2016 and 2018, their games also aired on TBS, so this shouldn’t be anything new for Wildcats fans.

» READ MORE: Villanova’s Caleb Daniels came home for the Final Four, to the city and school that shaped him

The game will stream live on both the TBS and TNT website, though it’s only available there for cable subscribers. You can also stream the game using the NCAA March Madness Live website and app, though a cable subscription is also required (if you’ve already blown through the app’s three free hours).

TBS is also available on a host of so-called skinny bundles, including Hulu With Live TV, DirecTV Stream, Sling TV, or YouTube TV.

But if you’re a FuboTV subscriber, you’re out of luck. Despite being a sports-focused cord-cutting option, the streaming service lost TNT and TBS in 2020 and hasn’t yet agreed to a new deal with WarnerMedia.

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The other Final Four game on Saturday features Duke taking on North Carolina — the first time the two storied franchises have faced off during the NCAA Tournament. It could also be Mike Krzyzewski’s final game as Duke’s head coach, something that might be mentioned once or twice during the broadcast.

Duke-North Carolina will tip-off 40 minutes after the conclusion of Villanova-Kansas, which is expected to be around 8:49 p.m. Nantz, Hill, Raftery, and Wolfson will also handle the broadcast duties for Duke-North Carolina.

The men’s national championship game is scheduled to begin Monday at 9:20 p.m. on TBS, with Nantz and crew returning to call all the action.

The women’s national championship game, between Connecticut and South Carolina, is scheduled to tipoff at 6 p.m. Sunday in Minneapolis. That game will air on ESPN — called by Ryan Ruocco, Rebecca Lobo, Holly Rowe, and Andraya Carter — and will stream on ESPN’s app and its website, though you’ll have to have a cable subscription. You can also stream ESPN on Hulu With Live TV, DirecTV Stream, Sling TV, FuboTV, and YouTube TV, but the game won’t air on ESPN+, the network’s subscription streaming platform.

Coverage on TBS begins at 3 p.m. with At the Final Four, hosted by Greg Gumbel alongside Seth Davis and former Duke guard and current Arizona State head coach Bobby Hurley. While they’ll obviously discuss Villanova, expect the show to focus heavily on the rivalry between Duke and North Carolina.

The Final Four Show begins on TBS at 4 p.m., hosted by Ernie Johnson alongside analysts Charles Barkley, Clark Kellogg, and Kenny Smith. Barkley obviously has number of connections with Villanova, including the fact that both his wife, Maureen, and daughter, Christiana, are graduates. His friendship with Jay Wright dates back to Barkley’s early days as a player for the Sixers.

ESPN will air a four-hour long special edition of College GameDay beginning at 2 p.m., hosted by Rece Davis and featuring analysis by Jay Bilas, LaPhonso Ellis, and Seth Greenberg. Among the many pieces that will air during those four hours is an interview between Greenberg and Jay Wright.