Getty Sam Hauser of the Virginia Cavaliers
The No. 13 seed Ohio Bobcats (16-7, 9-5 MAC) will take on the No. 4 seed Virginia Cavaliers (18-6, 13-4 ACC) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Saturday at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, in Bloomington, Indiana.
The game starts at 7:15 p.m. ET and will be televised nationally on TruTV. But if you don’t have cable or don’t have that channel, here are some different ways you can watch a live stream of Virginia vs Ohio online:
(Note that with all of the following options, you’ll also be able to watch other NCAA tournament games, which are on TBS, TNT, TruTV or CBS)
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AT&T TV
AT&T TV has four different channel packages: “Entertainment”, “Choice”, “Ultimate” and “Premier.” TBS, TNT, TruTV and CBS are all included in every package, but it’s worth noting for basketball fans that NBA League Pass is currently being offered at no extra cost in the “Choice” and above bundles, and you can pick any package and any add-on you want with your free 14-day trial.
Note that the free trial isn’t advertised as such, but your “due today” amount will be $0 when signing up. If you watch on your computer, phone or tablet, you won’t be charged for 14 days. If you watch on a streaming device on your TV (Roku, Firestick, Apple TV, etc.), you will be charged for the first month, but you can get still get a full refund if you cancel before 14 days:
Once signed up for AT&T TV, you can watch Virginia vs Ohio live on the AT&T TV app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Samsung Smart TV, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the AT&T TV website.
You can also watch the game via NCAA.com or the March Madness Live app. You’ll need to sign in to a cable provider to watch this way, but you can use your AT&T TV credentials to do that.
If you can’t watch live, AT&T TV also comes with 20 hours of Cloud DVR storage (with the ability to upgrade to 500 hours).
Sling TV
You can watch a live stream of TBS, TNT and TruTV (CBS not included on Sling) and 45-plus other TV channels via Sling TV’s “Sling Blue” bundle. This option doesn’t include a free trial, but it’s the cheapest streaming service with these channels, plus you can get $10 off your first month, and get Showtime, Starz, and Epix included for free:
Once signed up for Sling TV, you can watch Virginia vs Ohio live on the Sling TV app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV, or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV, LG Smart TV, Android TV, airTV Mini, Oculus, Portal, iPhone, Android phone, iPad, or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the Sling TV website.
You can also watch the game via NCAA.com or the March Madness Live app. You’ll need to sign in to a cable provider to watch this way, but you can use your Sling credentials to do that.
If you can’t watch live, Sling TV comes included with 50 hours of cloud DVR.
Hulu With Live TV
You can watch a live stream of TBS, TNT, TruTV, CBS and 65+ other TV channels via Hulu With Live TV, which you can try out for free with a seven-day trial:
Once signed up for Hulu With Live TV, you can watch Virginia vs Ohio live on the Hulu app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Samsung Smart TV, LG Smart TV, Android TV, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the Hulu website.
You can also watch the game via NCAA.com or the March Madness Live app. You’ll need to sign in to a cable provider to watch this way, but you can use your Hulu credentials to do that.
If you can’t watch live, Hulu with Live TV also comes with 50 hours of Cloud DVR storage (with the ability to upgrade to “Enhanced Cloud DVR,” which gives you 200 hours of DVR space and the ability to fast forward through commercials).
Virginia vs Ohio Preview
The Bobcats went on a tear to end the regular season, winning nine of their last 10 games, including an impressive three-game sweep in the MAC tourney. OU is averaging 80.2 points a game, while allowing 73.7 points per contest to opposing teams. This will be the Bobcats’ first appearance in the tournament since 2012, and it will be the first for head coach Jeff Boals, who also went to the tourney as a player with the team in 1994.
“I have tremendous respect for them as they are the defending national champions,’’ Boals said heading into the game, per cleveland.com. “They won the ACC (regular season), and coach (Tony Bennett) has won that thing five or six times in the last 10 years. When I was at Ohio State we played the Bo Ryan Wisconsin teams with their pack line defense like theirs. It’s tough to go against because they close down the driving lanes and want to force you into jump shots. So you have to make jump shots against them.”
Ohio University will indeed need all the help it can get against a scrappy Virginia team that is scoring 68.6 points a game and giving up 60.5 per game on defense.
A positive COVID-19 test forced the team to leave the ACC tournament early, and Virginia head coach Tony Bennett and company have been trying to use their extra time off while being forced to quarantine separately in a beneficial fashion.
“On Zoom, we got together and talked about our opponent. I’ll learn more about Ohio now. They’re well coached and have very good players,” Bennett said, adding: “I think everybody wants to work their way into the NCAA Tournament. Our guys didn’t get to play in it last year, so they’re excited about it. They want that opportunity. I saw that when I looked into their eyes. I think [Sunday’s pairings announcement] breathed life into them.”
For their part, the players are rolling with the punches in this odd season as best as they can. “There’s a little uncertainty,” Virginia forward Sam Hauser, who is the team’s leading scorer (16.0 ppg) said. “I know we’re going to have one practice, and I think we’ll probably have to fit a lot into that practice. The last couple days we’ve tried to fill it with a lot of film and getting to know our opponent.”