A reported 14.693 million viewers tuned in to watch UConn stifle San Diego State en route to the 2023 NCAA men’s basketball championship on Monday night.
That total — per the Sports TV Ratings account on Twitter — makes the Huskies’ dominant 76-59 win over the Aztecs at NRG Stadium in Houston the least-watched men’s basketball championship game in history, according to the Sports Business Journal.
Previously, 2018’s Villanova-Michigan finale had 15.97 million viewers across TBS, TNT and TruTv.
CBS’s previous low for an NCAA men’s championship game came in 2004, when UConn vs. Georgia drew 17.09 million.
Conversely, the women’s final between LSU and Iowa was watched by 9.9 million viewers on ESPN on Sunday — hitting as high as 12.6 million across platforms — smashing the previous record.
In 1992, the Virginia-Stanford women’s championship game on CBS was believed to grab 8.1 million viewers; ESPN’s previous high came in 2002 for Connecticut vs. Oklahoma at 5.68 million.
Still, the 2023 March Madness men’s final was watched more than any single basketball game in the past year.
The 14.7 million figure garnered by the CBS broadcast outperformed all six of the 2022 NBA Finals games between the Warriors and Celtics, with Game 6 topping out at 14 million.
Still, all six of those NBA Finals games — aired on ABC — rank among the top 10 in the last year, with Game 3 drawing a series-low 11.5 million, good for ninth best in that span.
The 2023 men’s Final Four matchup between UConn and Miami on CBS was the fourth-most viewed game at 12.9 million, while the SDSU-Florida Atlantic showdown was eighth with 11.9 million sets of eyes on it.
The Elite Eight matchup of Miami and Texas rounded out the top 10 with 11.3 million viewers.
LSU’s defeat of Iowa for the NCAA women’s title — which as since drawn headlines for Angel Reese’s taunting of Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark — was good for 12th in the past year.
The men’s final was also notable due to it being the final broadcast of Jim Nantz’s storied career as the 63-year-old signed off for good after his 32nd title call.
“One thing I’ve learned through all of this is that everybody has a story. Everybody has a story to tell,” Nantz said as the CBS broadcast faded to black.
“Just try to tell that story, and be kind. Let me say one more thing. To everybody in college basketball, my family and all the viewers, thank you for being my friend.”