NCAA Tournament ratings continued to trend below last year’s pace Sunday, as both Elite Eight games suffered double-digit declines.
Sunday’s Elite Eight NCAA Tournament games were both down double-digits compared to last year. In the early window, Kentucky’s easy win over Baylor drew a 5.3 overnight rating — down 29% from Kansas/VCU last year (7.5), and down 29% from Michigan State/Tennessee in 2010 (7.5).
The 5.3 overnight is the lowest for the early Sunday Elite Eight window since 2003 (OKLA/SYR: 5.0), when coverage was affected by the start of the war in Iraq.
The late Kansas/UNC game drew a 7.8 overnight, down 20% from Kentucky/UNC last year (9.7), and down 21% from Duke/Baylor in 2010 (9.9).
The 7.8 ranks as the second-lowest for the late Sunday Elite Eight window since 2003 (TEX/MSU: 7.3), ahead of only 2009 (UNC/OKLA: 7.7).
Of note, both Sunday’s Kansas/UNC and the 2009 UNC/Oklahoma games aired opposite a Tiger Woods victory in the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Overnights for Saturday’s games were not available.
(Sunday’s numbers from USA Today)
