Iowa Basketball: NCAA Tournament Game 1 Tip Time and TV Listing Announced

Selection Sunday is officially over and the Iowa Hawkeyes have their highest seed in the NCAA Tournament since 1987. The second seeded Hawkeyes will take on the 15th seeded Grand Canyon Antelopes on Saturday, March 20th.

That much was known as soon as the bracket was released earlier Sunday evening. But now we’re getting details on tip times and TV listings for all of the first weekend’s matchups. That includes the Hawkeyes, who will tip off at approximately 5:25pm CT on Saturday. The game will be broadcast on TBS with Brad Nessler, Steve Lavin and Evan Washburn on the call.

The game will be played at Indiana Farmer’s Coliseum. The stadium seats approximately 6,800 fans. As a reminder, the NCAA is allowing 25% capacity in tournament games, meaning roughly 1,700 fans will be permitted at Iowa’s round one game. Ticket information can be found at the NCAA’s site here.

Iowas opened as a 15 point favorite over the Antelopes with the over/under set at 144, according to Circa Sports.

Should they win, the Hawkeyes will have an opportunity to scout their und of 32 opponent immediately following their game. After Iowa-Grand Canyon wraps up, 7 seed Oregon will take on 10th seeded VCU from Farmer’s Coliseum. The winner of those two matchups will face off on Monday, March 22nd.

Here’s a look at the rest of the Saturday evening slate, which starts with your Iowa Hawkeyes.

NCAA Tournament action gets started later than normal this year. The First Four, which is traditionally played in Dayton, will take place on Thursday evening from the various venues in the Indianapolis area (which extends to West Lafayette and Bloomington for the purposes of the tournament) beginning at 4:10pm CT. Of note on Thursday, the Drake Bulldogs tip off at 5:27pm CT on TBS. They take on the Wichita State Shockers. Thursday’s action concludes with the Michigan State Spartans against the UCLA Bruins at 8:57pm CT on TBS.

With the First Four not starting until Thursday, the rest of the tournament doesn’t get underway until Friday morning. Things get going Friday at 11:15am CT and run through an 8:57pm start for the final game of the day. It’s the same story on Saturday, with the Hawkeyes marking the beginning of the evening slate.

You can view all TV times, listings and venues on the NCAA’s site here.