Chomp.

The Florida Gators’ third major championship in the last year and a half helped CBS to a big night on Monday. While the ratings will end up well below the 15.0 for UNC/Illinois in 2005, the ’07 National Championship Game will finish much higher than last year’s event. The game drew a 13.6/22 overnight rating, up 16% from last year.

“From 9-11 p.m., CBS averaged 16.8 million total viewers, according to Nielsen overnight data, a 17.5 percent boost over the 14.3 million who tuned in to watch Florida-UCLA from 9-11 p.m. a year ago. …

Not only did the network enjoy a total viewer increase from 9-11 last night, it also posted a 10.6 overnight household rating in that period, up 15.2 percent from a 9.2 a year ago.“

Despite the strong numbers, ABC won Monday night with Dancing with the Stars.

“For the night, ABC averaged a 9.9 rating/16 share, beating out CBS’ 8.9/14 (the Eye’s numbers reflect time period only and will change some because of the live broadcast). FOX and NBC tied for third at 5.8/9, with FOX holding a small edge in total viewers. The CW brought up the rear with a 1.3/2.“

These double-digit increases are a welcome reprieve from the generally flat ratings CBS had drawn for the event.

“Nielsen Media Research estimated that 132.7 million viewers watched all or part of CBS Sports’ overall coverage of the 2007 NCAA Tournament, a gain of 3 percent compared to last year.“

Assuming that the final rating enjoys an increase proportional to the overnight rating, the NCAA Tournament Final will end up with the third highest non-NFL sports rating of the year, behind the BCS National Championship Game and the Rose Bowl, and ahead of the Daytona 500.