Final Four Open Thread & How To Watch & Stream

The Final Four begins today in Houston with a match of the No. 2 seeds Villanova Wildcats and Oklahoma Sooners at 3:09 pm PT. That game will be followed by the No. 1 seed North Carolina Tar Heels taking on the fellow ACC team in the Syracuse Orange with this game scheduled to start at 5:49 pm PT or approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game.

There is one thing, in particular, to look out for as the games play out and that is the effect of NRG Stadium on the games themselves. Last year, the stadium had a definite effect in UCLA's Sweet 16 game there and the facility definitely had an effect on the Final Four the last time it was played here in 2011.

The building is a stadium which was built for football. Playing a basketball game inside it is different than playing in an arena built for basketball and it's even different than playing a basketball game inside some of the other football stadiums which have recently hosted the Final Four.

If the stadium is going to have an effect on any of the four teams, look for it to affect Oklahoma the most because they shoot the most jump shots of any of the teams still left in the tournament.

How To Watch:

Both game broadcasts will feature what the NCAA is calling "Team Stream" broadcasts on alternate channels, tailored specifically to fans of the teams playing.

Here's the full TV and streaming schedule. All times are Eastern:

No. 2 Oklahoma vs. No. 2 Villanova, 6:09 p.m., TBS
Stream: NCAA March Madness Live
Jim Nantz, Bill Raftery, Grant Hill, Tracy Wolfson 
Oklahoma Team Stream: TNT, 6 p.m. 
Villanova Team Stream: truTV, 6 p.m.

No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 10 Syracuse, 8:49 p.m., TBS
Stream: NCAA March Madness Live
Nantz, Raftery, Hill, Wolfson 
North Carolina Team Stream: TNT, following first game
Syracuse Team Stream: truTV, following first game

This is your Final Four open thread.