Leading into a record-low Selection Show, the final of the Big Ten Tournament hit a low of its own.
The Michigan State/Purdue Big Ten Tournament final earned a 2.4 overnight rating on CBS Sunday afternoon, down 8% from Wisconsin/Michigan State last year (2.6) and even with Michigan State/Michigan in 2014. The 2.4 is tied as the lowest for the title game since Wisconsin/Illinois in 2008 (1.5).
Despite tying an eight-year low, the Spartans’ win was the top college basketball game of the weekend. The Kentucky/Texas A&M SEC Tournament final ranked second (2.1).
Overall, Sunday’s game ranked third among all sporting events — behind the Selection Show (3.7) and NASCAR on FOX (3.6) and ahead of the PGA Tour on NBC (2.3) and ABC’s NBA Sunday Showcase (2.1).
In other action, Saturday’s Michigan State/Maryland semifinal had a 1.9 — even with the same matchup last year and up a tick from Michigan State/Wisconsin in 2014 (1.8). Purdue/Michigan had a 1.5 earlier in the day, down a tick from Purdue/Wisconsin last year (1.6) and down 21% from Michigan/Ohio State in ’14 (1.9).
UPDATE 3/15: Corrected post to note that the SEC title game ranked second for the weekend.
(Wknd. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily)
