The NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournament selection shows both increased double-digits to viewership highs.
Sunday’s NCAA men’s basketball tournament Selection Show averaged a 3.1 rating and 5.91 million viewers on CBS, marking the largest audience for the annual program since 2019 (6.2M) and second-largest in a decade. The women’s tournament Selection Show on ESPN averaged a 1.0 and 1.94 million, the highest for the event in 20 years. Viewership for the respective shows increased 16 and 52 percent from last year (5.08 and 1.27 million).
As for the actual games, the Illinois-Wisconsin Big Ten Tournament final averaged a 1.9 and 3.65 million on CBS — up 11% in ratings and 15% in viewership from last year (1.7, 3.18M) and the most-watched Big Ten title game in three years. The Illini’s win posted the second-largest audience of the college basketball season behind an NFL-inflated Michigan State-Arizona game on FOX Thanksgiving Day (5.2M).
The previous day’s Illinois-Nebraska semifinal averaged a 1.7 and 2.98 million on CBS, preceded by Wisconsin’s upset of Purdue at a 1.5 and 2.74 million. In both ratings and viewership, the semifinals increased eight and six percent respectively from last year (Purdue-Ohio State: 1.4, 2.54M; Penn State-Indiana: 1.6, 2.81M).
Later Saturday, the NC State-North Carolina ACC Tournament final averaged a 1.8 and 3.24 million on ESPN — up 23% in ratings and 20% in viewership from Duke-Virginia last year (1.4, 2.70M) and the most-watched edition of the game since the Zion Williamson-era Blue Devils against Florida State in 2019 (4.06M).
The Wolfpack’s upset win was Saturday’s most-watched sportscast, topping a Warriors-Lakers NBA game on ABC — a closely-contested matchup of Stephen Curry and LeBron James — head-to-head (1.6, 2.97M).
The Iowa State-Houston Big 12 Tournament final led in with a 1.1 (-16%) and 2.11 million (-15%), the least-watched edition of the game in three years. Not coincidentally, it was also the first Big 12 title game without Kansas in three years. The Cyclones’ blowout win aired in a competitive window that included the most-watched Mountain West and Big East title games in a decade.
The San Diego State-New Mexico Mountain West Tournament final averaged a 1.0 (+3%) and 1.80 million (+9%) on CBS, the highest since 2014 (1.9M), and the UConn-Marquette Big East title game had a 0.9 and 1.68 million on FOX — up 61 and 71 percent respectively from last year (Marquette-Xavier: 0.53, 980K) and the top audience for the game since the “old” Big East on ESPN in 2013 (2.1, 3.42M).
The Arizona-Washington State Pac-12 Tournament final led out of the Big East with a 0.55 and 1.02 million, down 38% in ratings and 35% in viewership from UCLA-Arizona in a post-ACC timeslot on ESPN last year (0.9, 1.57M).
The SEC Tournament also posted double-digit declines. Sunday’s Auburn-Florida title game averaged a 1.0 and 1.78 million on ESPN, down 10% and 9% respectively from last year (1.1, 1.95M) and a three-year low. The previous day’s Florida-Texas A&M semifinal drew a 0.9 and 1.50 million — down 39% and 40% respectively from last year’s 1.4 and 2.51 million — preceded by Auburn-Mississippi State at a 0.7 (-25%) and 1.20 million (-29%).
Rounding out the Championship Week slate, the Duquesne-VCU Atlantic-10 title game drew a 0.7 and 1.16 million on CBS Sunday afternoon — down 16% in ratings and 17% in viewership from last year (VCU-Dayton: 1.0, 1.68M). The Temple-UAB American Athletic championship game had a 0.51 and 878,000 on ESPN later in the day, down 48% in both measures from last year’s matchup of then-#1 Houston and Memphis (1.0, 1.68M).
