A memorable Elite Eight weekend delivered in the overnight ratings.
Sunday’s Michigan State-Duke NCAA Tournament regional final earned a 10.5 overnight rating on CBS, up 4% from last year (Kansas-Duke: 10.1) and up 11% from 2017 (North Carolina-Kentucky: 9.5).
The Spartans’ narrow win delivered the highest Elite Eight overnight since 2005, when Michigan State-Kentucky had a 10.8. As noted by Sports Business Daily, no other Elite Eight game has had a higher overnight since 1990, when UNLV-Loyola Marymount had a 12.4.
It also scored the highest college basketball overnight since the 2017 national championship game (UNC-Gonzaga: 14.5), topping last year’s Villanova-Michigan title game (10.3).
Earlier Sunday, Auburn-Kentucky delivered a 7.1 overnight — up 15% from last year (Villanova-Texas Tech: 6.2) and up 11% from 2017 (South Carolina-Florida: 6.4). The 7.1 is the highest for the early Sunday regional final since 2015 (Michigan State-Louisville: 7.6), and the second-highest since 2011.
On Saturday, Virginia-Purdue scored a 6.6 on TBS — up 14% from both last year (Michigan-Florida State: 5.8) and 2017 (Oregon-Kansas: 5.8), and the highest for the late Saturday regional final since 2016 on CBS (Villanova-Kansas: 7.4).
The 6.6 is tied as the second-highest for an Elite Eight game on cable, matching North Carolina-Notre Dame in 2016 and behind only Kentucky-Notre Dame in 2015 (9.0).
Finally, Texas Tech-Gonzaga brought up the rear with a 5.0 — up a tick from last year (Loyola Chicago-Kansas State: 4.9) and up 25% from Gonzaga-Xavier in 2017 (4.0). The 5.0 is the highest for the early Saturday regional final since 2016 on CBS (Oklahoma-Oregon: 5.1).
The full Elite Eight averaged a 7.2 overnight rating on CBS and TBS, the highest since 2015 (8.0).
In other action, Friday’s Sweet Sixteen games averaged a combined 8.5 overnight across CBS and TBS, up 27% from last year and the second-highest average since 1990.
The complete NCAA Tournament is averaging a 6.7 in the metered markets, up 8% from last year (6.2) and the highest since 2015 (7.2). The 6.7 is the third-highest average through the Elite Eight since 1993.
[Numbers from CBS/Turner, Sports Business Daily 4.1, March Madness TV/Twitter 3.30]
