The final weekend before the NCAA Tournament brings the final wave of conference tournaments. It became an especially important weekend in college basketball on CBS, with the Big Ten Championship Game that weekend drawing record television ratings. Purdue University and michigan.
Sunday’s Big Ten Tournament Championship Game was the most-watched game of Championship Week, surpassing Saturday night’s broadcast of the ACC Championship Game. CBS’s talent show also had a big win, averaging 6.41 million viewers, its most since 2014. Additionally, the Big Ten semifinals are the two most-watched games outside of the championship game.
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ESPN also drew more than 4 million viewers for the ACC Championship Game, Duke record it virginia. Here are the most-watched conference championship games of the 2025-26 men’s college basketball season, based on Nielsen Big Data + Flat Screen TV ratings data obtained by On3.
Big Ten: Purdue vs. Michigan
Date/Time: March 15, 3:30 pm ET
Channel: CBS
Number of viewers: 4.72 million
4.72 million, from Purdue University win michigan It became the most-watched Big Ten men’s basketball tournament on record, surpassing the 2013 record of 4.65 million viewers. The Boilermakers took control in the second half to defeat the top-seeded Wolverines at the United Center in Chicago.
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ACC: Virginia vs Duke
Date/Time: March 14, 8:30 pm ET
Channel: ESPN
Number of viewers: 4.09 million
from Duke University win virginia According to ESPN, it became the second-most-watched ACC men’s basketball tournament on record. An average of 4.09 million viewers tuned in as the Blue Devils defeated UVA to win their second straight conference title.
Big 12: Houston vs. Arizona
Date/Time: March 14, 6 p.m. ET
Channel: ESPN
Number of viewers: 3.1 million
For the second consecutive year, Houston and Arizona Competing for the Big 12 Championship. This time, the Wildcats won in front of 3.1 million viewers on Saturday night, making it the most-watched Big 12 championship game in history.
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SEC: Vanderbilt vs. Arkansas
Date/Time: March 15, 1pm ET
Channel: ESPN
Number of viewers: 2.61 million
Sunday’s first Power Conference championship game, Darius Acuff and Arkansas Take it off Vanderbilt In Nashville, won the SEC title the following year John Calipari. ESPN said the game averaged 2.61 million viewers, making it the second-most-watched SEC championship game since 2017.
BIG EAST: UConn vs. St. John’s University
Date/Time: March 14, 5:30 pm ET
Channel: Fox
Number of viewers: 1.77 million
People are looking forward to the third round University of Connecticut and st johns in the Big East Tournament. Although “Red Storm” won in blowout fashion, it averaged 1.77 million viewers. This made it the most-watched Big East championship game ever on Fox, and in 2016 it clinched the rights to the division title.
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More College Basketball Championship TV Ratings
Big Ten Semifinals: Wisconsin and michigan (March 14, 1 p.m. ET, CBS) — 2.92 million
Big Ten Semifinals: Purdue University and UCLA (March 14, 3:30 p.m. ET, CBS) — 2.73 million
SEC Semifinals: Ole Miss and Arkansas (March 14, 3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) — 2.13 million
ACC Quarterfinals: Florida and Duke (March 12, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN) — 1.99 million
Big 12 Semifinals: Iowa and Arizona (March 13, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN) — 1.84 million
SEC Quarterfinals: tennessee and Vanderbilt (March 13, 4 p.m. ET, ESPN) — 1.71 million
SEC Semifinals: Vanderbilt and Florida (March 14, 1 p.m. ET, ESPN) — 1.67 million
Ratings for conference tournaments continue to rise during the 2025-26 men’s college basketball season. Now, the NCAA Tournament is in full swing after teams earned automatic bids to the big dance.
