The toppling of the #1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament saw a slight increase in ratings over last year’s comparable game.
Michigan State’s upset victory over Louisville drew a 5.9 overnight on CBS Sunday afternoon, up 4% from a 5.7 for last year’s comparable Memphis/Texas game. The 5.9 overnight was the lowest of the four Elite Eight games over the weekend.
The 5.9 overnight is the third-lowest of the past five years for any Elite Eight game, ahead of only last year’s Memphis/Texas and UCLA/Xavier games, and is also slightly below the 6.0 average overnight for the early Sunday Elite Eight window dating back to ’99.
Overnight ratings for early Sunday Elite Eight telecast since ’99.
| Year | Date | Time | Game | Net | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Sun., 3/29/09 | 2:30 PM | Michigan State/Louisville | CBS | |
| 2008 | Sun., 3/30/08 | 2:30 PM | Memphis/Texas | CBS | |
| 2007 | Sun., 3/25/07 | 2:30 PM | Florida/Oregon | CBS | |
| 2006 | Sun., 3/26/06 | 2:30 PM | George Mason/Connecticut | CBS | |
| 2005 | Sun., 3/27/05 | 2:30 PM | Wisconsin/North Carolina | CBS | |
| 2004 | Sun., 3/28/04 | 2:30 PM | Kansas/Georgia Tech | CBS | |
| 2003 | Sun., 3/30/03 | 2:45 PM | Oklahoma/Syracuse | CBS | |
| 2002 | Sun., 3/24/02 | 2:30 PM | Oregon/Kansas | CBS | |
| 2001 | Sun., 3/25/01 | 2:30 PM | Temple/Michigan State | CBS | |
| 2000 | Sun., 3/26/00 | 2:30 PM | North Carolina/Tulsa | CBS | |
| 1999 | Sun., 3/21/99 | 2:30 PM | Temple/Duke | CBS |
