Tracking the most watched men's basketball games of the season.

I might change this if too many games pass this threshold but for now I'll use 1 million viewers.

North Carolina at Duke, Sat. 3/5, 6pm, ESPN, 3.98M
Gonzaga vs. Duke at Las Vegas, Fri. 11/26, 10:30pm, ESPN, 2.793M
Kentucky at Auburn, Sat. 1/22, 1pm, CBS, 2.483M
Kentucky at Arkansas, Sat. 2/26, 2pm, CBS, 2.361M
Ohio State at Purdue, Sun. 1/30, noon, CBS, 2.277M
Duke at North Carolina, Sat. 2/5, 6pm, ESPN, 2.188M
Kentucky at Kansas, Sat. 1/29, Big 12/SEC Challenge, 6pm, ESPN, 2.174M
Georgetown at. St. John's, Sun. 1/9, 4:30pm, FOX, 2.018M

Texas at Kansas, Sat. 3/5, 4pm, ESPN, 1.913M
Michigan at Michigan State, Sat. 1/29, 12:30pm, CBS, 1.842M
Kentucky vs. Duke, Champions Classic, Tue. 11/9, 9:30pm, ESPN, 1.782M
Kentucky vs. North Carolina, CBS Sports Classic, Sat. 12/18, 5:30pm. CBS, 1.781M
Kentucky at Alabama, Sat. 2/5, 8pm, ESPN, 1.694M
Kentucky at Florida, Sat. 3/5, 2pm, CBS, 1.662M
Ohio State at Maryland, Sun. 2/27, 4pm, CBS, 1.613M
Michigan at Ohio State, Sun. 3/6, 12:30pm, FOX, 1.602M
Illinois at Michigan, Sun. 2/27, 2pm, CBS, 1.591M
Michigan at Wisconsin, Sun. 2/20, 1pm, CBS, 1.588M
Gonzaga vs. UCLA at Las Vegas, Tue. 11/23, 10pm, ESPN, 1.583M
Kansas at Baylor, Sat. 2/26, 8pm, ESPN, 1.561M
West Virginia at Kansas, Sat. 1/8, 2pm, CBS, 1.548M
Baylor at Alabama, Sat. 1/29, Big 12/SEC Challenge, 4pm, ESPN, 1.525M
Kansas vs. Michigan State, Champions Classic, Tue. 11/9, 7pm, ESPN, 1.517M

Kentucky at LSU, Tue. 1/4, 7pm, ESPN, 1.484M
Auburn at Tennessee, Sat. 2/26, 4pm, ESPN, 1.445M
Maryland at Michigan State, Sun. 3/6, 4:30pm, CBS, 1.411M
Duke at Syracuse, Sat. 2/26, 6pm, ESPN, 1.385M
Tennessee at Kentucky, Sat. 1/8, 1pm, ESPN, 1.384M
Alabama at Kentucky, 2/19, 1pm, CBS, 1.380M
LSU at Kentucky, 2/23, 9pm, ESPN, 1.376M
Michigan at Purdue, 2/5, 2:30pm, FOX, 1.337M
Tennessee at Arkansas, 2/19, 4pm, ESPN, 1.318M
Purdue at Michigan State, 2/26, noon, ESPN, 1.315M
Duke at Ohio State, ACC/Big Ten Challenge, Tue. 11/30, 9:30pm, ESPN, 1.31M
NC State at Duke, Sat. 1/8, 2pm, ABC, 1.29M
Indiana at Purdue, Sat. 3/5, 2pm, ESPN, 1.26M
Florida State at Duke, Sat. 2/19, 6pm, ESPN, 1.228M
Indiana at Michigan State, Sat. 2/12, 3:30pm, FOX, 1.22M
Duke at Louisville, Sat. 1/29, noon, ESPN, 1.218M
Tennessee at Texas, Big 12/SEC Challenge, Sat. 1/29, 8pm, ESPN, 1.215M
Oklahoma at Kansas, Sat. 2/12, 1pm, CBS, 1.212M
Alabama at LSU, Sat. 3/5, noon, CBS, 1.207M
Oklahoma at Auburn, Big 12/SEC Challenge, Sat. 1/29, 2pm, ESPN, 1.204M
Purdue at Illinois, Mon. 1/17, noon, FOX, 1.2M
Maryland at Purdue, Sun. 2/13, 1pm. CBS, 1.198M
Purdue at Wisconsin, Tue. 3/1, 9pm, ESPN, 1.191M
Ohio State at Michigan, Sat. 2/12, 6pm, ESPN, 1.187M
Arizona State at Arizona, Sat. 1/29, 2:30pm, CBS, 1.182M
Virginia at Duke, Mon. 2/7, 7pm, ESPN, 1.17M
Baylor at Kansas, Sat. 2/5, 4pm, ESPN, 1.17M
Maryland at Ohio State, Sun. 2/6, 1pm, CBS, 1.15M
Florida at Kentucky, Sat. 2/12, 4pm, ESPN, 1.141M
Duke at Florida State, Tue. 1/18, 9pm, ESPN, 1.121M
Gonzaga at St. Mary's, Sat. 2/26, 10pm, ESPN, 1.115M
Kansas at Texas, Mon. 2/7, 9pm, ESPN, 1.11M
Michigan at North Carolina, ACC/Big Ten Challenge, Wed. 12/1, 9:30pm, ESPN, 1.11M
Illinois at Indiana, Sat. 2/5, noon, ESPN, 1.109M
Kentucky at Notre Dame, Sat. 12/11, 5pm, ESPN, 1.103M
Duke at Virginia, Wed, 2/23, 7pm, ESPN, 1.102M
UCLA at Oregon State, Sat. 2/26, CBS, 1.1M
Arizona at Illinois, Sat. 12/11, 5pm, FOX, 1.098M
Syracuse at North Carolina, Mon. 2/28, 7pm, ESPN, 1.094M
Arkansas at Tennessee, Sat. 3/5, noon, ESPN, 1.076M
Connecticut at Georgetown, Sun. 2/27, noon, CBS, 1.071M
Kentucky at Tennessee, Tue. 2/15, 9pm, ESPN, 1.068M
Texas Tech at Kansas, Mon. 1/24, 9pm, ESPN, 1.055M
Syracuse at Georgetown, Sat. 12/11, noon, FOX, 1.037M
Syracuse at Duke, Sat. 1/22, noon, ESPN, 1.035M
Villanova at DePaul, Sat. 1/8, 2:30pm, FOX, 1.032M
Illinois at Purdue, Tue. 2/8, 9pm, ESPN, 1.03M
Auburn at Florida, Sat. 2/19, 2pm, ESPN, 1.028M
Iowa at Ohio State, Sat. 2/19, 2:30pm, FOX, 1.014M
Notre Dame vs. Indiana, Crossroads Classic, Sat. 12/18, 2:30pm, FOX, 1.013M
Texas Tech vs. Gonzaga, Colangelo Classic, Sat. 12/18, 1pm, CBS, 1.01M
Wisconsin vs. St. Mary's, Maui Championship, Wed. 11/24, 5pm, ESPN, 1.006M
Houston at Memphis, Sun. 3/6, noon, CBS, 1.001M
Kansas at West Virginia, Sat. 2/19, 8pm, ESPN, 1.000M

Conference Tournaments:

Big Ten Final: Iowa vs. Purdue, Sun. 3/13, 3:30pm, CBS, 3.585M
Big Ten SF: Michigan State vs. Purdue, Sat. 3/12, 3:30pm, CBS, 3.088M
ACC Final: Duke vs. Virginia Tech, Sat. 3/12, 8:30pm, ESPN, 3.055M
Big Ten SF: Indiana vs. Iowa, Sat. 3/12, 1pm. CBS, 2.799M
SEC SF: Kentucky vs. Tennessee, Sat, 3:30pm, ESPN, 2.514M
Big 12 Final: Kansas vs. Texas Tech, Sat. 3/12, 6pm, ESPN, 2.484M

ACC SF: Duke vs. Miami, Fri. 3/11, 7pm, ESPN, 1.862M
SEC F: Texas A&M vs. Tennessee, Sun. 3/13, 1pm, ESPN, 1.792M
SEC SF: Texas A&M vs. Arkansas, Sat. 3/12, 1pm, ESPN, 1.689M
MWC Final: San Diego State vs. Boise State, Sat. 3/12, 6pm, CBS, 1.538M

A-10 Final: Davidson vs. Richmond, Sun. 3/13, 1pm, CBS, 1.322M
Pac-12 Final: Arizona vs. UCLA, Sat. 3/12, 9pm, FOX, 1.303M
ACC SF: North Carolina vs. Virginia Tech, Fri. 3/11, 9:30pm, ESPN, 1.277M
Big East Final: Creighton vs. Villanova, Sat. 3/12, 6:30pm, FOX, 1.221M
SEC QF: Arkansas vs. LSU, Fri. 3/11, 2:30pm, 1.219M
AAC Final: Houston vs. Memphis, 3pm, 1.2M
ACC QF: North Carolina vs. Virginia, Thur. 3/10, 9:30pm, 1.128M
WCC Final: Gonzaga vs. St. Mary's, Tue. 3/8, 9pm, 1.074M
MVC Final: Loyola vs. Drake, Sun. 3/6, 2pm, CBS, 1.030M

Shocked at Duke/Gonzaga, especially for a late tip off.

https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2021/11...ched-2004/

"Last Friday’s Duke-Gonzaga men’s college basketball game averaged 2.79 million viewers on ESPN, the largest audience for a college basketball game prior to New Year’s Day since the same matchup in the 2018 Maui Invitational final (2.85M)."

I'm worried because ESPN will believe it's OK to schedule men's basketball games this late.

(12-01-2021 03:29 PM)schmolik Wrote:  Shocked at Duke/Gonzaga, especially for a late tip off.

https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2021/11...ched-2004/

"Last Friday’s Duke-Gonzaga men’s college basketball game averaged 2.79 million viewers on ESPN, the largest audience for a college basketball game prior to New Year’s Day since the same matchup in the 2018 Maui Invitational final (2.85M)."

I'm worried because ESPN will believe it's OK to schedule men's basketball games this late.

I think a lot of it is due to being Thanksgiving weekend more than anything else.

Louisville vs Michigan State should have a good rating

(12-01-2021 03:29 PM)schmolik Wrote:  Shocked at Duke/Gonzaga, especially for a late tip off.

https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2021/11...ched-2004/

"Last Friday’s Duke-Gonzaga men’s college basketball game averaged 2.79 million viewers on ESPN, the largest audience for a college basketball game prior to New Year’s Day since the same matchup in the 2018 Maui Invitational final (2.85M)."

I'm worried because ESPN will believe it's OK to schedule men's basketball games this late.

ESPN and the TV networks already know that it’s more than OK to schedule games late.

I remember Keith Olbermann saying that he always used to complain about the late starts to World Series games and saying that MLB was depressing viewership. However, when he worked at Fox, the network showed him the minute-by-minute ratings and they showed that viewership climbed every single minute up to midnight Eastern Time. At that point, he knew it was a completely losing battle to fight it because the ratings data was so clear that late starts were what maximized viewership.

(12-01-2021 03:32 PM)stever20 Wrote:  

(12-01-2021 03:29 PM)schmolik Wrote:  Shocked at Duke/Gonzaga, especially for a late tip off.

https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2021/11...ched-2004/

"Last Friday’s Duke-Gonzaga men’s college basketball game averaged 2.79 million viewers on ESPN, the largest audience for a college basketball game prior to New Year’s Day since the same matchup in the 2018 Maui Invitational final (2.85M)."

I'm worried because ESPN will believe it's OK to schedule men's basketball games this late.

I think a lot of it is due to being Thanksgiving weekend more than anything else.

I don’t think it’s just that. This is Duke (the biggest TV draw in college basketball) vs. the then-#1 team of Gonzaga - that’s TV ratings magic regardless of the time of year. Any college basketball TV ratings list is going to be dominated by Duke games in the same way college football TV ratings lists are dominated by Ohio State and Alabama games.

(12-01-2021 10:54 PM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  

(12-01-2021 03:32 PM)stever20 Wrote:  

(12-01-2021 03:29 PM)schmolik Wrote:  Shocked at Duke/Gonzaga, especially for a late tip off.

https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2021/11...ched-2004/

"Last Friday’s Duke-Gonzaga men’s college basketball game averaged 2.79 million viewers on ESPN, the largest audience for a college basketball game prior to New Year’s Day since the same matchup in the 2018 Maui Invitational final (2.85M)."

I'm worried because ESPN will believe it's OK to schedule men's basketball games this late.

I think a lot of it is due to being Thanksgiving weekend more than anything else.

I don’t think it’s just that. This is Duke (the biggest TV draw in college basketball) vs. the then-#1 team of Gonzaga - that’s TV ratings magic regardless of the time of year. Any college basketball TV ratings list is going to be dominated by Duke games in the same way college football TV ratings lists are dominated by Ohio State and Alabama games.

I don't think if it was 10:30pm on a typical weeknight they draw close to that high. Even with Duke/Gonzaga. I think they put it right there where it would get as good of a rating as possible- with no football game really going up against it.

Good numbers for the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, specifically Duke at Ohio State and Michigan at North Carolina.

https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2021/12...match-tnt/

Didn't make 1 million but 839,000 for Paige Bueckers less Connecticut women on ABC on Sat. 12/11 1pm.
https://showbuzzdaily.com/articles/skedb...-2021.html

People love watching Gonzaga because they aren’t a “P5” program.

(12-14-2021 08:33 PM)AuzGrams Wrote:  People love watching Gonzaga because they aren’t a “P5” program.

Kinda like people watching Boise State because they’re not part of the cartel. People love the underdog and it’s good for tv ratings.

(12-14-2021 08:33 PM)AuzGrams Wrote:  People love watching Gonzaga because they aren’t a “P5” program.

People love watching Gonzaga because they have become a perennial Top Ten team. If they weren't most people wouldn't be interested.

(12-14-2021 08:39 PM)UTEPDallas Wrote:  

(12-14-2021 08:33 PM)AuzGrams Wrote:  People love watching Gonzaga because they aren’t a “P5” program.

Kinda like people watching Boise State because they’re not part of the cartel. People love the underdog and it’s good for tv ratings.

Boise doesn't get great ratings at all.

A disclaimer on the over 2M viewership for Georgetown-St. John's. It was after an NFL game. In previous years, games after NFL games get a similar viewership bump. Does anyone really believe Georgetown and St. John's are the two most popular Big East teams?

My take away, Gonzaga is a Major, but in a minor conference.

(01-20-2022 06:57 PM)schmolik Wrote:  A disclaimer on the over 2M viewership for Georgetown-St. John's. It was after an NFL game. In previous years, games after NFL games get a similar viewership bump. Does anyone really believe Georgetown and St. John's are the two most popular Big East teams?

In the 80’s they were 2 of the watched teams in the nation. I remember watching Georgetown vs St Johns on free tv as a kid in Iowa once with my Dad. Only time I ever remember him watching a college basketball game outside of a few local tv station Iowa vs Iowa St games…

Second highest viewership of the season for Kentucky/Auburn, 2.483M viewers. Only Duke/Gonzaga (2.793M) had more.

We are definitely into basketball season. NINE games this past weekend had 1 million or more viewers and two games (Ohio State/Purdue and Kentucky/Kansas) topped 2 million.

The Big 12/SEC Challenge alone had four games over 1 million, led by Kentucky/Kansas. The ACC/Big Ten Challenge meanwhile had just two games over 1 million. This is why the ACC/Big Ten Challenge needs to move to January and/or to weekends. Why have it on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 and on Tuesday and Wednesday nights? We're lucky we got as many people watching.

(02-02-2022 04:08 PM)schmolik Wrote:  We are definitely into basketball season. NINE games this past weekend had 1 million or more viewers and two games (Ohio State/Purdue and Kentucky/Kansas) topped 2 million.

The Big 12/SEC Challenge alone had four games over 1 million, led by Kentucky/Kansas. The ACC/Big Ten Challenge meanwhile had just two games over 1 million. This is why the ACC/Big Ten Challenge needs to move to January and/or to weekends. Why have it on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 and on Tuesday and Wednesday nights? We're lucky we got as many people watching.

I think the reason why it's when it is quite frankly is TV. ESPN shows all of those games. Fox isn't going to be willing to allow the Big Ten to have no games from the conference on a January weekend. And really can't do it on a December weekend because of early conference play.

(02-02-2022 04:08 PM)schmolik Wrote:  We are definitely into basketball season. NINE games this past weekend had 1 million or more viewers and two games (Ohio State/Purdue and Kentucky/Kansas) topped 2 million.

The Big 12/SEC Challenge alone had four games over 1 million, led by Kentucky/Kansas. The ACC/Big Ten Challenge meanwhile had just two games over 1 million. This is why the ACC/Big Ten Challenge needs to move to January and/or to weekends. Why have it on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 and on Tuesday and Wednesday nights? We're lucky we got as many people watching.

That's super unusual to happen - it's usually the ACC-Big Ten Challenge that dominates the challenge ratings, so this year is an anomaly. The weeknight time slots are actually better for maximizing TV ratings on average. I'd attribute this year's ratings to a combination of the ACC being very down this season (and even where UNC is probably going to make the NCAA Tournament, it's not in that elite top 10 range that it normally is in most years) while the Big 12 and SEC are both way up (especially the former). The matchups top to bottom in this year's Big 12/SEC Challenge were simply a whole lot better. That's normally not the case.