NCAA men's lacrosse bracket 2026: Schedule, TV channels, live streams, scores for college championship

NCAA men's lacrosse bracket 2026: Schedule, TV channels, live streams, scores for college championship originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The march to Memorial Day is here for the nation's top college lacrosse teams. 

A trip through a tough bracket awaits before we get to the two teams contesting the sport's annual holiday afternoon championship game, though, beginning with a pair of opening-round games just three days after Selection Sunday. 

This year's NCAA tournament appears wide open. Notre Dame has held down the top spot most of the year, but the Irish have lost a pair of games to the team hosting this year's semis and final, Virginia. Princeton is right there with Notre Dame, along with defending champion Cornell and rising power Richmond. 

While Notre Dame could well win its third national title in four years, it will have plenty of competition on the way. Here's everything you need to know to watch this year's tournament. 

NCAA men's lacrosse bracket 2026

The bracket consists of 18 teams, with 10 automatic and eight at-large selections. The top eight schools are seeded nationally, and the four lowest-ranked automatic qualifiers will play in the two opening-round games. See the full game schedule below.

This section will be filled in as seeds are announced. 

1. Princeton
3. North Carolina
4. Richmond
5. Virginia
6. Syracuse
7. Cornell
8. Penn State

Where to watch NCAA men's lacrosse tournament

• TV channels: ESPNU (first round, quarterfinals), ESPN2 (semifinals), ESPN (championship)
• Live streams:ESPN app, fubo

The 2026 NCAA men's lacrosse tournament will air on multiple ESPN platforms, including the first round and quarterfinals on ESPNU, the semis on ESPN2 and the championship game on ESPN.

All of those games will also be available to stream via fubo. Fans can also stream those games and the two opening-round games with the ESPN app.

Fubo offers a free trial for new subscribers, so you can try the service before you buy. Stream ESPN, ABC, CBS, Fox and 100+ top channels of live TV and sports without cable. (Participating plans only. Taxes and fees may apply.)

NCAA men's lacrosse tournament schedule, scores 2026

Wednesday, May 6: Opening round

Saturday, May 9: First round

Sunday, May 10: First round

Saturday, May 16: Quarterfinals

Sunday, May 17: Quarterfinals

Saturday, May 23: Semifinals

Semifinals and final will be played at Charlottesville, Virginia

Monday, May 25: Championship

NCAA men's lacrosse champions list

Here are the last 10 NCAA men's lacrosse champions and runners-up. There was no tournament in 2020 due to COVID-19.