Once again, Kentucky’s undefeated run generated strong numbers for ESPN.
Tuesday’s Kentucky/Tennessee college basketball game drew 2.5 million viewers on ESPN, up 147% from Kentucky/Mississippi last year (1.0M), but actually down 32% from Indiana/Michigan State in 2013 (3.7M). The Wildcats’ win, which continued their undefeated run, earned the season’s seventh-largest audience on the ESPN networks.
Kentucky has now played in five of the ten most-watched games this season on the ESPN family of networks, including three of the top five. No team has as many appearances in the top ten as Kentucky, with Duke coming closest at four.
On Saturday, Kentucky’s blowout of South Carolina drew 1.8 million viewers — up 155% from VCU/Saint Louis last year (711K) and up 22% from Purdue/Indiana in 2013 (1.5M). It was the weekend’s second-most watched game on the ESPN networks, trailing only Duke/Syracuse later in the evening (2.2M, +60%).
