The Big Ten Championship was again the top draw of college basketball’s championship week, but the numbers trailed recent years.
Sunday’s Michigan State/Michigan Big Ten Championship Game earned a 2.4 overnight rating on CBS, down 20% from Ohio State/Wisconsin last year (3.0), and down 11% from Michigan State/Ohio State in 2012 (2.7). The 2.4 overnight is the lowest for the title game since Wisconsin/Illinois in 2008 (1.5).
The game faced head-to-head competition from the Florida/Kentucky SEC Championship Game on ESPN, which earned a not-much-lower 2.1 overnight. Prior to this year, the SEC title game aired earlier in the day.
Despite the decline, the Big Ten title game earned the highest overnight of Championship Week.
On Saturday, the Michigan/Ohio State semifinal earned a 1.9 overnight — down 17% from Wisconsin/Indiana last year (2.3), but up 19% from Michigan State/Wisconsin in 2012 (1.6). Michigan State/Wisconsin later in the day earned a 1.8, down 22% from Ohio State/Michigan State last year (2.3), and down 10% from Ohio State/Michigan in 2012 (2.0).
(Weekend overnights from Sports Business Daily)
