Ratings Roundup: College Hoops, NHL, Boxing, 30 For 30

Last Saturday’s Kentucky-Missouri college basketball game scored a 1.4 rating and 2.2 million viewers on CBS, marking the highest rated and most-watched NCAA game of the past week. There was no comparable window last year.

Earlier in the day, Oklahoma State-Kansas had a 1.0 (flat) and 1.4 million (-6%) — edging St. John’s concurrent upset of Duke on FOX (0.9, 1.3M). CBS also drew a 0.8 (-21%) and 1.3 million (-22%) for Wisconsin-Maryland on Sunday.

Shifting to ESPN, Oklahoma-Texas scored a 0.9 (+6%) and 1.4 million (+10%) and Michigan State-Indiana a 0.7 (-43%) and 1.1 million (-43%) on Saturday night. On Big Monday, West Virginia-Oklahoma drew a 1.0 (+18%) and 1.6 million (+19%) and Syracuse-Louisville a 0.6 (-21%) and 898,000 (-23%). Finally, on Super Tuesday, Tennessee-Kentucky drew a 0.8 and 1.3 million (+31%) and Michigan State-Iowa a 0.55 (-12%) and 836,000 (-14%).

Bruins-Rangers scored 451,000 viewers on NBCSN’s NHL Wednesday Night Rivalry last night, down 35% from last year (Blackhawks-Wild: 696K) and down 32% from 2016 (Rangers-Penguins: 660K). It was NBCSN’s final NHL telecast until after the Olympic Games.

In other recent action, Wild-Blues drew 260,000 on Tuesday (+81%), Golden Knights-Wild had 252,000 last Friday, and Kings-Predators scored 183,000 last Thursday (-32%).

The latest edition of ESPN’s Top Rank Boxing scored a 0.49 rating and 741,000 viewers late Saturday night, less than half of the 1.6 million viewers the series averaged in primetime last year. Compared to the previous Top Rank card on ESPN, which aired after the Heisman Trophy Presentation in December, ratings and viewership fell 52% and 57% respectively from a 1.0 and 1.7 million.

The ESPN 30 For 30 premiere “The Two Bills” earned a 0.8 rating and 1.3 million viewers last Thursday, up 40% in ratings and 37% in viewership from “This Was the XFL” on the same night last year (0.6, 917K), but down 13% and 12% respectively from “The ’85 Bears” in 2016 (1.0, 1.4M).