Championship Week ratings: Big Ten dips, others up

Outside of the Big Ten, ratings for the major college basketball conference title games rebounded significantly during championship week.

Sunday’s Iowa-Purdue men’s Big Ten Tournament final averaged a 2.0 rating and 3.59 million viewers on CBS, marking the smallest audience for the game since 2018 (3.18M). Ratings fell 8% and viewership at least 3% from last year (2.2, 3.68M pending revision). The lower lead-in no doubt hurt the NCAA Tournament Selection Show lead-out, which drew 4.95 million — the smallest audience for the event since 2018, the first and only time it aired on cable (2.50M).

The Big Ten title game was an exception on a weekend that saw big increases for the other conference tournament finals.

On ESPN, Saturday’s Virginia Tech-Duke ACC Tournament final averaged a 1.7 and 3.06 million, up 69% in ratings and as much as 70% in viewership from last year (1.0, 1.80M pending revision), though down 34% and 25% respectively from the Zion Williamson-fueled 2019 game (2.5, 4.06M). Even with the big increase, it surpassed only last year and 2016 (2.81M) as the least-watched ACC Tournament final since it moved to a Saturday night in 2014.

Sunday’s SEC Tournament final (Tennessee-Texas) drew a 1.4 and 2.51 million, marking its largest audience since 2017 (2.67M). The Volunteers’ win increased 45% in ratings and as much as 57% in viewership from last year (1.0, 1.60M pending revision).

Returning to Saturday, the Kansas-Texas Tech Big 12 Tournament final delivered a 1.35 and 2.48 million, up 47% in ratings and as much as 51% in viewership from last year (0.9, 1.65M pending revision), though down 14% and 1% respectively from 2019 (1.6, 2.52M).

Over on FOX, the Big East Tournament final (Villanova-Creighton) drew a 0.6 and 1.22 million — up a tick in ratings and as much as 35% in viewership from last year (0.5, 903K) and the largest audience for the game since 2018 (1.49M).

That led into the Pac-12 Tournament final (Arizona-UCLA) at a 0.7 and 1.30 million, up 21% in ratings and as much as 13% in viewership from last year (0.58, 1.16M), though down 42% and 35% respectively from 2019 (1.2, 1.99M).

While the Big Ten final was the only major conference title game to decline from last year, it was also the most-watched game of the weekend. The Big Ten Tournament took three of the top four spots, with Saturday’s Michigan State-Purdue semifinal ranking second at a 1.7 (flat) and 3.09 million (+7%, pending revision) and the preceding Iowa-Indiana game fourth at a 1.6 (flat) and 2.80 million (+11%, pending revision).

For the season, Iowa-Purdue ranks second only to the previous weekend’s North Carolina-Duke game on ESPN.

Outside of the major conferences, the Mountain West Tournament final (San Diego State-Boise State on CBS) drew a 0.9 (flat) and 1.54 million (+7%, pending revision); the Atlantic-10 Tournament final (Richmond-Davidson on CBS) had a 0.9 (+25%) and 1.32 million (+25%, pending revision); the American Athletic Tournament final (Houston-Memphis on ESPN) drew a 0.7 (+37%) and 1.20 million (+34%, pending revision).