Iowa vs Auburn in the 1st Round of the NCAA Tournament: How to Watch, Listen & More

March Madness means one thing: loads of college basketball on TV. With games spread across several networks all day long, it can be easy to miss out. But you can catch all of the action (including the women’s tournament and all your wresting coverage!) on Sling TV. Best of all, they’re offering their base plans for half off. Sign up here to watch all that March has to offer.

For the ups and downs of a college basketball season, it all comes down to what you do in March. Finally, the madness is upon us.

After a roller coaster ride of a season that came to an abrupt halt with the Hawkeyes falling flat on senior day before rolling over and playing dead in their first Big Ten Tournament matchup against Ohio State, Iowa is now set to face a fork in the road in the NCAA Tournament. Today’s opening round matchup with Auburn presents an opportunity for the Hawkeyes to move past the disappointing end to the regular season and BTT and push ahead with a chance at the program’s first Sweet Sixteen appearance in more than two decades.

But the matchup also comes with the chance of another disappointing performance and early departure from the Tournament. The Tigers are, of course, coached by former Iowa assistant Bruce Pearl. They play high-intensity defense that seems content grinding the game to a near halt with offense optional. But they also feature a slew of talented wings and an aggressive, confident PG who can make things happen on his own.

For Hawkeye fans with PTSD from Iowa’s early exit against Richmond a season ago, those are scary words. Can the Hawkeyes bounce back and find a way to generate offense when shots aren’t falling? Can they get clean looks against a good defensive opponent away from Carver? And can they themselves play good enough defense to stop a mediocre shooting team from getting hot?

If Iowa wants to finally make a run, they’ll need to do all those things and more as they take on the Auburn Tigers in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Here’s a look at the details for today’s matchup.

How to Watch

Date: Thursday, March 16th
Time: 5:50p CT
Opponent: #9 Auburn Tigers (20-12, 10-8)
Location: Legacy Arena at BJCC - Birmingham, AL
Gambling (by DraftKings): Auburn -1.5 | Iowa +105/Auburn -125 | O/U 151.5
TV: TNT
Streaming: Paramount+ ($)

Stream on SlingTV

March Madness means one thing: loads of college basketball on TV. With games spread across several networks all day long, it can be easy to miss out. But you can catch all of the action on Sling TV.

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Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.

The winner of today’s matchup will advance to take on the winner of #1 Houston and #16 Northern Kentucky on Saturday.

Here’s the full tournament bracket for your convenience.

Go Hawks!