Oakland vs NC State live stream: Can you watch for free?

No. 14 seed Oakland became the story of the first round thanks to their thrilling upset of Kentucky. Now they look to continue the magic today against a red-hot NC State squad. The Wolfpack have won six in a row after their thrashing of No. 6 Texas Tech on Thursday, but they’ll need to find a way to slow down Jack Gohlke and Co. if they want to make their first Sweet 16 since 2015.

This one is about to begin, at 7:10 p.m. ET, and will be televised on TBS/truTV. Fortunately, if you don’t have cable you want to watch March Madness online, there are a bevy of ways you can watch a live stream of Oakland vs NC State for free.

Is There a Free Oakland vs NC State State Live Stream?

Of all of the live-TV streaming services that include TBS and/or truTV, there are only two that offer a free trial: YouTube TV and DirecTV Stream. After signing up, each will let you watch for five days before you need to either cancel your subscription or pay for the first month.

Both of these also include CBS (live in most markets) and TNT, giving you every channel you need to watch every tournament game. That means, if you time things correctly, you could use one streaming service for the remainder of this weekend’s Round of 32 games, and then try out the other streaming service for next week’s Sweet 16 and Elite 8 games without ever having to pay anything.

A third free option if you just want to watch this game is the March Madness Live app or website. You can actually watch every game of the tourney this way if you’re able to sign in with a cable provider. Of course, even if you don’t have that, you can watch for three hours–enough to watch Oakland vs NC State barring several overtimes–without signing in.

Other Ways to Watch the Oakland vs NC State State Live Stream

If you’ve already used up all your free trials and previews, the cheapest way to watch the game is with a subscription to Max, which has every truTV, TBS and TNT game. Though there’s no free trial, it costs just $10 per month, and a single month will get you through the entire tournament.

The second-cheapest long-term option would be Sling TV. The “Sling Orange” channel plan costs just $30 for your first month ($40 per month after that) and includes both TNT and TBS, while the “Entertainment Extra” add-on is another $6 per month and will get you truTV.

How to Watch the Oakland vs NC State State Live Stream from Abroad

If you want to watch any of those streaming services from outside of the United States, you’ll need NordVPN or some other VPN service. Once signed up, you’ll use your VPN to hide your IP address and connect to a digital server located in the US. This allows you to operate online as if you were actually in the country, getting you around the location-blocks that all of those streaming services have.

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