NCAA March Madness is underway. Here’s how to watch the Philadelphia-area teams

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The NCAA tournament is underway and men’s and women’s basketball teams from the Philadelphia area will be looking to hoist a national title — but they may have to bust some brackets along the way.

March Madness games in Philadelphia

Philadelphia is hosting first- and second-round games at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Friday and Sunday, the first men’s NCAA tournament games held in the city since 2013. Below is the schedule for this weekend’s games:

• No. 3 Virginia vs. No. 14 Wright State on Friday, March 20, at 1:50 p.m.
• No. 6 Tennessee vs. the winner of No. 11 Miami University of Ohio and No. 11 SMU on Friday, March 20, at 4:25 p.m.
• No. 7 University of California, Los Angeles vs. No. 10 University of Central Florida on Friday, March 20 at 7:25 p.m.
• No. 2 University of Connecticut vs. No. 15 Furman on Friday, March 20, at 10 p.m.

Sunday will feature two second-round games, with tipoff times to be determined.

Philadelphia was the site of the men’s Final Four in 1976 and 1981, both at the Spectrum Center. Indiana University, led by head coach Bobby Knight, won both tournaments.

Philadelphia, Lehigh Valley men’s teams aiming for Final Four run

Two of Philadelphia’s Big 5 teams, the Villanova Wildcats and Pennsylvania Quakers, will represent the best of the city’s collegiate programs.

Villanova, which won the Big 5 Classic, is returning to the tournament for the first time in four years. The No. 8-seeded Wildcats received an at-large bid after finishing 24-8 under head coach Kevin Willard in his first year with the program.

They’ll play the ninth-seeded Utah State Aggies at 4:10 p.m. Friday on TNT at Viejas Arena in San Diego, California. The Wildcats are three-time NCAA champions, with their most recent win being in 2018.

Penn is entering their first tournament since 2018 as the No. 14 seed after defeating the Yale Bulldogs in overtime during the Ivy League championship. In his first year with the program, head coach Fran McCaffery led the Quakers to an 18-11 record. The Ivy League champions will play No. 3 Illinois Fighting Illini at 9:25 p.m. Thursday on TNT at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina.

Last, but not least, the Lehigh Mountain Hawks from Bethlehem are making their sixth NCAA tournament appearance after winning their fourth Patriot League championship. Led by head coach Brett Reed, they enter the tournament as the No. 16 seed and will play in the First Four play-in games in Dayton, Ohio, at University of Dayton Arena. They’ll face No. 16 Prairie View A&M Panthers at 6:40 p.m. Wednesday on truTV.

Best of the metro area’s women’s teams headed to March Madness

The nationally-ranked Princeton Tigers and the Villanova Wildcats are both set to play in the same quadrant of the March Madness bracket.

After being ranked No. 23 by the Associated Press and winning the Ivy League championship, Princeton will play in its seventh-straight NCAA tournament on Saturday. Head coach Carla Berube has guided the team to March Madness every year since 2022, including an automatic tournament bid as the No. 9 seed this year.

The Tigers will play No. 8 Oklahoma State Cowgirls at 7:30 p.m. Saturday on ESPN2 at the Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles.

Villanova will have its men’s and women’s programs represented in March Madness this year. The Wildcats received a bid to the women’s tournament as a No. 10 seed, making it their 14th appearance in the program’s history. Villanova went 25-7 and finished second in the Big East regular season standings.

They’ll play the No. 7 Texas Tech Lady Raiders at 8:30 p.m. Friday at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

In 2027, Philadelphia will host the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight rounds of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament at Xfinity Mobile Arena from March 26-29.