How to Watch Illinois vs Colorado in the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament

Illinois women’s basketball looks like a team that could be set up to make a run in this NCAA Tournament, but none of that matters unless the Illini take care of the first game in front of them. Shauna Green’s group avoided the dreaded 8-9 matchup, landed in a bracket where the path is manageable and enters March with real momentum after another strong season. But every potential second-weekend conversation starts with beating Colorado in the opener.

A night well-spent with the FamILLy finding out the next stop of our journey 🧡💙 pic.twitter.com/EOLfWxfD0Z
— Illinois Women's Basketball (@IlliniWBB) March 16, 2026

The Illini are back in the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four years under Green, and this trip feels different because Illinois is no longer just happy to be here. This program won an NCAA Tournament game last season, has now put together back-to-back 20-win campaigns and has shown enough toughness this year to instill belief that it can make noise in the postseason. Still, Colorado is more than capable of turning this into a grind, so Illinois will need to play like the better seed from the opening tip.

Here’s more information about Saturday’s first-round Illinois-Colorado matchup:

How to watch Illinois Fighting Illini vs. Colorado Buffaloes

Hitting the road for the NCAA Tournament!

📆 Saturday, March 21
🕣 8:30 PM CT
🆚 [10] Colorado
📍 Nashville, Tenn. (Memorial Gym)
🎟️ https://t.co/CZQ2eDOw05
📺 ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/VDQymIqwNy
— Illinois Women's Basketball (@IlliniWBB) March 19, 2026

What's the event?

No. 7 seed Illinois (21-11) will face No. 10 seed Colorado (22-11) in the first round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament. The winner will move on to face either No. 2 seed Vanderbilt or No. 15 seed High Point in the second round.

When and where are they playing?

Illinois and Colorado will meet at Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, Tennessee, on Saturday, March 21. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. CT, with Vanderbilt serving as the host site for this pod.

How to watch

Illinois vs. Colorado will be televised on ESPN2. Beth Mowins, Debbie Antonelli and Jess Sims will be on the call.

How to listen

Audio of the game can be heard on radio affiliates of the Busey Bank Illini Sports Network (Champaign: WDWS 93.9 FM or 1400 AM; Chicago: WLS 890 AM) and streamed at Fighting Illini Productions and the Varsity Network App.

What happened when Illinois last played Colorado?

It has been a while. Colorado leads the all-time series 4-2, and the most recent meeting came on Dec. 7, 2013, when the Buffaloes edged Illinois 71-70 in Boulder. So although these programs aren't quite strangers historically, there's almost nothing from that game that carries over in any meaningful basketball sense beyond the fact that the matchup has usually been competitive.

What has changed since then?

We’re heading to Music City as the No. 7 seed!

We have earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four seasons under Coach Green! pic.twitter.com/nRjfpp5qdA
— Illinois Women's Basketball (@IlliniWBB) March 16, 2026

Pretty much everything. Both programs are now under new regimes, and Illinois in particular has become one of the better turnaround stories in the Big Ten, earning back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time since the late 1990s.

The Illini also enter this tournament as the youngest team in the entire 68-team field, which makes their growing poise this season even more impressive. Colorado, meanwhile, arrives from the Big 12 at 22-11 after another solid season under JR Payne – so this doesn't figure to be a walkover for either club. But if Illinois really is built to make a run, this is exactly the kind of first-round game it has to win.