As the culmination of a tournament marked by high-profile upsets, there was a notable lack of national buzz heading into Monday night’s men’s national championship game between UConn and San Diego State. The day after the Huskies cut down the nets, the numbers are in—and confirmed the pre-game expectations.
This year’s title game drew in 14.69 million viewers on CBS, according to ShowBuzz Daily, making it the least-watched men’s championship game in recorded history. That represents a 14% decrease from last year’s game between Kansas and North Carolina, which was broadcast on TBS, TNT and TruTV and drew in 17.05 million linear TV viewers.
There were a number of factors working against this game drawing in a big viewership. San Diego State is a mid-major program without broad national appeal, while both teams deployed hard-nosed defense that led to many scoring droughts. Combine that with the lopsided score and a lack of marquee individual players, and there was little intrigue for casual fans to tune in.
The historically low ratings come on the heels of Sunday’s women’s national championship setting a new record for most viewers in women’s college basketball history. LSU’s 102–85 victory over Iowa was seen by 9.9 million viewers, with high-profile stars in LSU’s Angel Reese and Iowa’s Caitlin Clark fueling a high-scoring showdown that peaked at 12.6 million people tuning in.
