Defending national champions UConn seek a second consecutive trip to the Final Four when they take on No. 3 seed Illinois in the Elite Eight today. The Illini, meanwhile, are looking to get back to the national semifinals for the first time since Deron Williams and Dee Brown were in the backcourt.
This one is just abut to start at 6:09 p.m. ET and will be televised on TBS. But if you want to watch March Madness online, we have some different ways you can watch a live stream of the game for free or cheap.
You can watch a live stream of UConn vs Illinois on either YouTube TV (“Base Plan”) or DirecTV Stream (“Entertainment” package or above). They both include TBS, and they both come with a free five-day trial.
Moreover, both of these live-TV streaming services also come with CBS (live in most markets). That gives you everything you need to watch both of today’s Elite Eight games (TBS), tomorrow’s Elite Eight games (CBS), next weekend’s Final Four (TBS) and the national championship (TBS), though you’ll need to time your free trials correctly if you don’t want to pay anything.
Another free option, but just for one game, is the March Madness Live app or website. You can watch a live stream of every tournament game this way provided you sign in with a cable provider, but even if you don’t have a cable provider, you can watch for free for three hours before needing to log in.
If you’ve used up your free trials for YouTube TV and DirecTV Stream, or you just want a cheap way to watch this game and the Final Four and the national championship next week, then Max is the way to go. It’s just $10 per month and includes every tournament game on TBS. It doesn’t include the CBS games, so you won’t be able to watch Sunday’s Elite Eight games on Max, but you could always start a free trial of Paramount+ with SHOWTIME for those ones.
If you want a cheap way to watch both the men’s and women’s tournaments, Sling TV‘s “Sling Orange” is a good option. It includes TBS, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN3 (which simulcasts ABC games) and is just $20 for your first month. That’s by far the least expensive live-TV streaming service with all of those channels
A virtual private network (VPN) can hide your IP address/location and connect you to a digital server in the United States. This makes it seem to your computer or streaming device as though you’re physically located there, allowing you to access US-only sites such as YouTube TV, DirecTV Stream, Max or Sling.
We would go with NordVPN, but most VPN’s will work just fine if you’re just trying to watch a live stream of UConn vs Illinois from abroad. We’ve put together a list of the best VPN services out there right now if you want to check out some more options.
Some of the best shots in Grok Imagine’s AI-made Odyssey don’t contain actors. Ancient landscapes stretch into the distance. Close-ups of grimy hands suggest people who have touched something rougher than a keyboard. For a few seconds, the illusion holds.
https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911
YouTube videos could soon look better without eating quite so much data, right? Thankfully, the platform plans to introduce a new video format called AV2 on its web player in early 2027, promising more efficient streaming and potentially fewer playback hiccups on slower internet connections. The big headline is a roughly 30% improvement in compression efficiency over AV1, YouTube's existing video format. That doesn't guarantee every video will use 30% less data, but it could make streaming a little easier on both internet connections and data allowances.
What is AV2, and why should viewers care?
YouTube is changing how its Home page works, giving viewers more control over what shows up there and making some of the app’s most-used sections easier to reach. Custom Feeds are now replacing the existing topic chips for eligible users, while YouTube is also testing a redesigned top bar on mobile that moves Subscriptions closer to the Home feed.
YouTube first started experimenting with Custom Feeds earlier this year, letting you type out what you wanted to watch and turning that request into its own stream of recommendations. Now, the feature is starting to look less like a side experiment and more like something YouTube actually wants people to use as part of their everyday Home page.