First, the results of last week’s predictions.
Source: Sports Business Daily
| Sport | Game/Event | Net | Prediction | Final rating |
| College basketball | Syracuse/Louisville | ESPN | 1.9 | 2.4 |
| The 2.4 final rating for the Big East Championship last Saturday was up 41% from a 1.7 for last year’s Pittsburgh/Georgetown final. | ||||
| College basketball | Florida St./Duke | ESPN | 1.7 | 1.2 |
| ESPN saw a big drop for the ACC Championship Game last Sunday. The 1.2 for Duke’s win over Florida State was off 25% from a 1.6 for last year’s North Carolina/Clemson tilt. | ||||
| College basketball | NCAA Tournament Selection Show | CBS | 4.1 | N/A |
| Final national ratings for NCAA Tournament Selection Show on CBS currently unavailable. | ||||
| NBA | Mavericks/Lakers | ABC | 2.6 | 2.0 |
| The 2.0 final rating for the Lakers’ win over the Mavericks on Sunday was off 20% from a 2.5 for last year’s comparable Lakers/Rockets game, which featured Houston winning its 22nd straight game. | ||||
| PGA Tour | WGC-CA Championship, Final Round | NBC | 3.6 | 3.4 |
| With the two biggest stars in golf playing, ratings for final round coverage of the WGC-CA Championship rose to a 3.4 last Sunday, up 13% from last year, and the highest rated PGA Tour telecast since last year’s U.S. Open. | ||||
| NHL | Flyers/Rangers | NBC | 0.8 | 0.8 |
| Yet another sub-1.0 final rating for the NHL on NBC. Excluding the Winter Classic, only one NHL regular season telecast in the past two years has drawn a rating of 1.0 or higher. | ||||
This week’s predictions:
| Sport | Game/Event | Date/Time | Net | Prediction |
| College basketball | Arizona St./Syracuse | 12 PM Sunday | CBS | 4.4 |
| The NCAA Tournament continues on CBS Sunday, with Arizona State/Syracuse leading off a Sunday tripleheader. After drawing big audiences during the Big East tournament, can Syracuse continue attracting national attention? | ||||
| College basketball | Regional coverage | 2:30 PM Sunday | CBS | 5.9 |
| Regional action in the second NCAA Tournament window of the day features, among other games, an unlikely Cleveland State/Arizona tilt. While underdogs make news, they are not particularly good for ratings. Even so, look for CBS to draw solid numbers. | ||||
| College basketball | Regional coverage | 5 PM Sunday | CBS | 6.3 |
| Late window coverage on Sunday features #1 overall seed Louisville taking on Siena, and fellow #1 seed Pittsburgh going up against Oklahoma State. Neither top seed may be able to match the drawing power of North Carolina, whose game against Arkansas in the comparable window last year drew a 6.5 rating. | ||||
| NBA | Heat/Pistons | 1 PM Sunday | ABC | 1.2 |
| Despite the presence of MVP candidate Dwyane Wade, only true NBA diehards may end up watching this battle of middle-of-the-road Eastern Conference playoff teams, both of whom have gone a mediocre 5-5 in their last ten games. Last year’s comparable Spurs/Mavericks game drew a relatively impressive 1.5 opposite the NCAA Tournament. | ||||
| NASCAR | Food City 500 | 1:30 PM Sunday | FOX | 5.1 |
| NASCAR returns to the airwaves just in time to go head-to-head with the NCAA Tournament. Last year’s Food City 500 did not air opposite the NCAA Tournament, and drew a 5.5 rating. | ||||
| NHL | Flyers/Penguins | 12:30 PM Sunday | NBC | 0.8 |
| NBC gets its last taste of Sidney Crosby before the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Look for this week’s rematch of last year’s Eastern Conference Finals to draw a typical NHL rating. | ||||
| WBC | United States/Japan | 8 PM Sunday | ESPN | 2.1 |
| Ratings for the World Baseball Classic have increased significantly from ’06. With the U.S. in the Semifinals for the first time, and with no competition from the NCAA Tournament, look for ESPN to draw strong ratings on Sunday night. | ||||
