Well, if you’re the NCAA and CBS, I have good news and I have bad news:
Good news: Last night’s Texas Tech vs Virginia national title game drew a 12.4 overnight, which is up 20% from last year’s title game (Michigan vs Villanova)!
Bad news: That number is down 14% from the last time a national championship was broadcasted on CBS two years ago (Gonzaga vs North Carolina).
I know what you’re thinking, you saw this a mile coming. I think we all did. Absent of blue blood powerhouse programs, and decided by grinding defense, this year’s title game was not exactly moving the meter.
But it was actually an exceptional game! How often does the pinnacle game in a sport need extra time? Last time in college basketball was the infamous Kansas vs Memphis game. That’s so early in the Derrick Rose 30 for 30. Plus, there was so much intrigue down the stretch in the 2019 title game. Could you imagine if Texas Tech would’ve hit a buzzer beater after Virginia threw it away while trying to call timeout? I came in expecting the worst and ended up with the best possible outcome. It was like expecting to see Hangover 3 but getting the original Hangover instead.
The problem is the NCAA and CBS network affiliates are dumb. That’s why rating are down. It’s a simple as that: stupidity. Why the game starts at 9:20 Eastern Time is beyond me. The fact that we are deprived of One Shining Moment until after midnight is the single worst thing the NCAA is depriving a group of people from.
The NCAA goes out of their way to do as many things wrong as humanly possible. You play a game on TBS instead of CBS and your ratings will be down. You play a game at 9:20ET and your ratings are down.
Play the game on CBS at a reasonable time, I feel like someone in the board room has to have had that idea. It seems to be working well for the NFL and then Sports.
All together, it was a pretty fun NCAA Tournament and congrats to Virginia for creating an all-time redemption story.
All congrats to us, the viewers, for never having to see ‘Phil’ from AT&T again.