Duke/UNC draws good numbers.

The highest profile game of the 2008-09 college basketball season also drew the biggest rating.

The latest entry into the Duke/North Carolina rivalry drew a 2.9/6 final rating and 4.6 million viewers on CBS Sunday, up 163% in ratings from a 1.1/2 for last year’s comparable Purdue/Michigan tilt, and easily the highest rated college basketball game of the season.

Despite the solid numbers, the game was off 15% in ratings and 18% in viewership from a 3.4 and 5.6 million for last year’s North Carolina/Duke game on the comparable weekend last year, which aired on a Saturday night on ESPN.

Additionally, the 2.9 rating marks a 3% decline from a 3.0 for a March ’07 Duke/North Carolina game, the last time the teams played each other on CBS. The 2.9 is also the lowest rating for a Duke/North Carolina game on broadcast since 2002, when their match-up drew a 2.0 on ABC.

Compared to other sports, the 2.9 rating helped Duke/North Carolina trounce the NBA on ABC (1.6), the final round of the Honda Classic (1.5) and the NHL on NBC (0.8). Still, so far this season, two Sunday afternoon NBA games on ABC have drawn a rating higher than 2.9, and even the ratings-challenged PGA Tour topped the number on one occasion.

Earlier Sunday, the MVC Championship between N. Iowa and Illinois St. drew a 1.3/3 final rating, up 18% from a 1.1/3 in ’08, and regional coverage in the 12 PM window drew a 1.4/4, down 13% from a 1.6/4 for Florida/Kentucky last year.

Overall, four of the six college basketball windows on CBS saw declining ratings last weekend. However, thanks primarily to Duke/North Carolina, the network averaged a 1.6 rating for the weekend, up 14% from a 1.4 in ’08.

College basketball ratings on CBS last weekend.