2025-2026 TV ratings

[visitingcock]

Our friend @awhom111 sent me this list a couple of weeks ago. I was having some computer issues then and was mostly posting from my phone.


10/27 Vanderbilt-Memphis ESPNU 26,000
11/3 Duke vs Baylor ESPN 213,000
11/3 Cal vs Vanderbilt ESPNU 27,000
11/4 Tennessee vs North Carolina State ESPN2 161,000
11/4 Louisville vs UConn ESPN 448,000
11/9 USC vs North Carolina State ESPN 238,000
11/9 FSU vs UConn FS1 166,000
11/10 Oklahoma-UCLA FS1 122,000
11/11 Clemson-South Carolina ESPN2 194,000
11/12 Loyola Chicago-UConn truTV 134,000
11/12 Creighton-Nebraska FS1 197,000
11/13 South Florida-Fairfield ESPNU 28,000
11/13 Drake-Iowa BTN 146,000
11/13 UNC-UCLA ESPN2 262,000
11/14 Duke-West Virginia ESPNU 28,000
11/15 Notre Dame-Michigan NBC ???
11/15 South Carolina-USC FOX 649,000*
11/16 TCU-North Carolina State ESPN 152,000
11/16 North Dakota State-Nebraska BTN 74,000
11/16 Louisville-Clemson ESPN2 58,000
11/17 LSU-Tulane ESPNU 28,000
11/20 Davidson-Miami ESPNU 33,000
11/20 Duke-South Florida ESPNU 38,000
11/20 Iowa-Baylor ESPN2 259,000
11/21 Syracuse-Utah FS2 15,000
11/21 USC-Notre Dame ESPN 484,000
11/21 Michigan-UConn FOX 967,000*
11/22 Kentucky-Louisville CW
11/23 Syracuse-Michigan FS1 60,000
11/23 Miami (OH)-Purdue BTN 25,000
11/23 UConn-Utah FS1 124,000
11/23 George Mason-Maryland BTN 21,000
11/26 Texas-UCLA truTV 103,000
11/26 Duke-South Carolina truTV 175,000
11/27 Texas-South Carolina truTV 195,000
11/27 Duke-UCLA truTV 72,000
11/28 Abilene Christian-Northwestern ION
11/28 Missouri-Bradley ION
11/28 Butler-Dayton ION
11/28 Georgia-Kansas ION
11/29 Abilene Christian-Bradley ION
11/29 Northwestern-Missouri ION
11/29 Butler-Georgia ION
11/29 Kansas-Dayton ION
11/30 Fairfield-Iowa BTN 150,000
11/30 UConn-Xavier FS1 212,000
11/30 Saint Peter's-Rutgers BTN 19,000
11/30 Tennessee-UCLA FS1 147,000
12/2 UConn-South Florida ESPN2 239,000
12/3 Kentucky-Miami ESPN2 80,000
12/3 Georgia-Florida State ESPNU 7,000
12/3 North Carolina State-Oklahoma ESPN2 193,000
12/3 Tennessee-Stanford ESPN2 194,000
12/4 Florida-Virginia Tech ESPN2 132,000
12/4 South Carolina-Louisville ESPN 509,000
12/4 North Carolina-Texas ESPN2 204,000
12/4 Clemson-Alabama ESPNU 5,000
12/4 LSU-Duke ESPN 436,000
12/4 Notre Dame-Ole Miss ESPN2 167,000
12/6 Indiana-Illinois BTN 28,000
12/6 Iowa-Rutgers FS1 300,000
12/7 Purdue-Michigan BTN 20,000
12/7 DePaul-UConn FS1 115,000
12/7 Ohio State-Northwestern BTN 20,000
12/7 Oregon-UCLA FS1 76,000
12/7 Maryland-Minnesota BTN 78,000
12/7 Michigan State-Wisconsin BTN 68,000
12/7 Washington-USC BTN 99,000
12/9 Arizona State-Penn State BTN 26,000
12/10 Iowa-Iowa State ESPN 854,000
12/13 Oklahoma-Oklahoma State ESPNU 91,000
12/13 UConn-USC FOX
12/13 Louisiana Tech-LSU ESPNU 39,000
12/14 Baylor-Texas ABC
12/14 Penn State-South Carolina ESPN 158,000
12/14 Kansas State-Creighton FS1 14,000
12/14 Michigan State-DePaul FS1 25,000

 

[BigTenGuy]

Curious about your Iowa State-Iowa viewership number. Source? ESPN had announced it at 1,000,000:

 

[BigTenGuy]

Our friend @awhom111 sent me this list a couple of weeks ago. I was having some computer issues then and was mostly posting from my phone.


10/27 Vanderbilt-Memphis ESPNU 26,000
11/3 Duke vs Baylor ESPN 213,000
11/3 Cal vs Vanderbilt ESPNU 27,000
11/4 Tennessee vs North Carolina State ESPN2 161,000
11/4 Louisville vs UConn ESPN 448,000
11/9 USC vs North Carolina State ESPN 238,000
11/9 FSU vs UConn FS1 166,000
11/10 Oklahoma-UCLA FS1 122,000
11/11 Clemson-South Carolina ESPN2 194,000
11/12 Loyola Chicago-UConn truTV 134,000
11/12 Creighton-Nebraska FS1 197,000
11/13 South Florida-Fairfield ESPNU 28,000
11/13 Drake-Iowa BTN 146,000
11/13 UNC-UCLA ESPN2 262,000
11/14 Duke-West Virginia ESPNU 28,000
11/15 Notre Dame-Michigan NBC ???
11/15 South Carolina-USC FOX 649,000*
11/16 TCU-North Carolina State ESPN 152,000
11/16 North Dakota State-Nebraska BTN 74,000
11/16 Louisville-Clemson ESPN2 58,000
11/17 LSU-Tulane ESPNU 28,000
11/20 Davidson-Miami ESPNU 33,000
11/20 Duke-South Florida ESPNU 38,000
11/20 Iowa-Baylor ESPN2 259,000
11/21 Syracuse-Utah FS2 15,000
11/21 USC-Notre Dame ESPN 484,000
11/21 Michigan-UConn FOX 967,000*
11/22 Kentucky-Louisville CW
11/23 Syracuse-Michigan FS1 60,000
11/23 Miami (OH)-Purdue BTN 25,000
11/23 UConn-Utah FS1 124,000
11/23 George Mason-Maryland BTN 21,000
11/26 Texas-UCLA truTV 103,000
11/26 Duke-South Carolina truTV 175,000
11/27 Texas-South Carolina truTV 195,000
11/27 Duke-UCLA truTV 72,000
11/28 Abilene Christian-Northwestern ION
11/28 Missouri-Bradley ION
11/28 Butler-Dayton ION
11/28 Georgia-Kansas ION
11/29 Abilene Christian-Bradley ION
11/29 Northwestern-Missouri ION
11/29 Butler-Georgia ION
11/29 Kansas-Dayton ION
11/30 Fairfield-Iowa BTN 150,000
11/30 UConn-Xavier FS1 212,000
11/30 Saint Peter's-Rutgers BTN 19,000
11/30 Tennessee-UCLA FS1 147,000
12/2 UConn-South Florida ESPN2 239,000
12/3 Kentucky-Miami ESPN2 80,000
12/3 Georgia-Florida State ESPNU 7,000
12/3 North Carolina State-Oklahoma ESPN2 193,000
12/3 Tennessee-Stanford ESPN2 194,000
12/4 Florida-Virginia Tech ESPN2 132,000
12/4 South Carolina-Louisville ESPN 509,000
12/4 North Carolina-Texas ESPN2 204,000
12/4 Clemson-Alabama ESPNU 5,000
12/4 LSU-Duke ESPN 436,000
12/4 Notre Dame-Ole Miss ESPN2 167,000
12/6 Indiana-Illinois BTN 28,000
12/6 Iowa-Rutgers FS1 300,000
12/7 Purdue-Michigan BTN 20,000
12/7 DePaul-UConn FS1 115,000
12/7 Ohio State-Northwestern BTN 20,000
12/7 Oregon-UCLA FS1 76,000
12/7 Maryland-Minnesota BTN 78,000
12/7 Michigan State-Wisconsin BTN 68,000
12/7 Washington-USC BTN 99,000
12/9 Arizona State-Penn State BTN 26,000
12/10 Iowa-Iowa State ESPN 854,000
12/13 Oklahoma-Oklahoma State ESPNU 91,000
12/13 UConn-USC FOX
12/13 Louisiana Tech-LSU ESPNU 39,000
12/14 Baylor-Texas ABC
12/14 Penn State-South Carolina ESPN 158,000
12/14 Kansas State-Creighton FS1 14,000
12/14 Michigan State-DePaul FS1 25,000

Looking further at your list, I wonder if your source is adjusting announced figures down to try to account for the recent changes with "Big Data + Panel" that yield higher viewership numbers than past years. Or perhaps the media reports that I see are preliminary figures, later adjusted down and reported elsewhere on a site unknown to me. Would be curious if you have any insight about sources and adjustments.

I follow some of the ratings listings, paying attention to Big Ten games, and several on your list immediately jump out as too low. For example, Programming Insider reports Creighton-Nebraska as 204,000, not 197,000, and Iowa-Baylor as 274,000, not 259,000, and UNC-UCLA as 333,000, not 262,000. Sports Media Watch also reports the 1,000,000 figure for Iowa State-Iowa, not 854,000.

 

[visitingcock]

Looking further at your list, I wonder if your source is adjusting announced figures down to try to account for the recent changes with "Big Data + Panel" that yield higher viewership numbers than past years. Or perhaps the media reports that I see are preliminary figures, later adjusted down and reported elsewhere on a site unknown to me. Would be curious if you have any insight about sources and adjustments.

I follow some of the ratings listings, paying attention to Big Ten games, and several on your list immediately jump out as too low. For example, Programming Insider reports Creighton-Nebraska as 204,000, not 197,000, and Iowa-Baylor as 274,000, not 259,000, and UNC-UCLA as 333,000, not 262,000. Sports Media Watch also reports the 1,000,000 figure for Iowa State-Iowa, not 854,000.

I have no clue. I'm just reporting numbers to me by a friend who has been doing so for a few years, Here is what he said:

"I realized that I have not been sending these to you. Anything blank is something where numbers exists somewhere, but I have not found them in public anywhere. Most of the numbers are fairly directly comparable to previous seasons, but anything marked with * is using a different sampling method and the number should be higher than it would be under the more vetted measure."

 

[BigTenGuy]

I have no clue. I'm just reporting numbers to me by a friend who has been doing so for a few years, Here is what he said:

"I realized that I have not been sending these to you. Anything blank is something where numbers exists somewhere, but I have not found them in public anywhere. Most of the numbers are fairly directly comparable to previous seasons, but anything marked with * is using a different sampling method and the number should be higher than it would be under the more vetted measure."

Thank you, and I do appreciate you providing the numbers from your friend.

 

[BigTenGuy]

While on the topic of TV ratings, saw this today, but no details:

Nielsen Top 10 Most Watched Women's College Basketball Teams 2025-26 through 12/22/25

Iowa
Iowa State
UConn
Notre Dame
Louisville
USC
UCLA
South Carolina
North Carolina
Baylor


"Around two months in the college basketball season, Michigan State is the most-watched men’s team on national TV, while Iowa -- two years after Caitlin Clark left -- is tops among women. That ranking is based on Nielsen-measured national TV networks like ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, CW, ION, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, FS1, BTN, FS2, TNT, truTV and USA."

Michigan State men, Iowa women top early college basketball viewership

Around two months in the college basketball season, Michigan State is the most-watched men’s team on national TV, while Iowa is tops among women.

www.sportsbusinessjournal.com