Women's NCAA Tournament viewership up significantly
Fueled by new names and surprising upsets, the women’s NCAA Basketball Tournament has captured the attention of fans.
First-round tournament viewership was up 27% compared to last year, averaging 272,000 viewers a game according to rightsholder ESPN.
According to Awful Announcing, two second-round games on ABC on Sunday topped 1 million viewers each. Iowa, led by star Caitlin Clark, defeated Georgia as 1.457 million tuned in. Undefeated No. 1 seed South Carolina’s win over South Florida had 1.139 million viewers.
The uptick in viewership is due in part to upsets. Two No. 1 seeds (Stanford and Indiana) fell before the second weekend.
For years the women’s tournament felt like an inevitability. Almost all top seeds made the Sweet 16, and multiple No. 1 seeds advanced to the Final Four. That appears to be changing as new teams have made deeper runs recently.
In the Sweet 16 Friday and Saturday, the top matchups are:
No. 9 Miami – No. 4 Villanova (Friday at 2:30 p.m. | ESPN)
Miami, led by Haley Cavinder (12.6 PPG), is fresh off its upset over No. 1 seed Indiana. Villanova's Maddy Siegrist (29.2 PPG), a 6-foot-2 senior forward and finalist for Player of the Year, has led her team to two easy tournament wins.
No. 2 Iowa-No. 6 Colorado (Friday at 7:30 p.m. | ESPN)
Player of the Year front-runner Catlin Clark (26.8 PPG) and the Hawkeyes were the only top-four seed to make the Sweet 16 in the Seattle 4 Regional. Colorado’s stingy defense has held opponents to 58.5 points per game.
No. 1 South Carolina-No. 4 UCLA (Saturday, 2 p.m. ET | ESPN)
Reigning Player of the Year Aliyah Boston leads the Gamecocks (34-0), who get their first real test of the tournament in UCLA. UCLA allows 61.8 points per game, but it will need its best defensive effort to slow South Carolina, which averages 81 points.
No. 2 Connecticut- No. 3 Ohio State (Saturday at 4 p.m. ET | ABC)
UConn stumbled early in the season but has found its footing and looks like the juggernaut of years past. The team, led by Aaliyah Edwards (17.0 PPG), has won seven straight. Ohio State finished fourth in the Big Ten and averaged 80. 4 points.
No. 1 Virginia Tech -No. 4 Tennessee (Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET | ESPN2)
Tennessee used to be the name in women’s basketball, but it hasn’t made a Final Four since 2008. Under head coach Kellie Harper, the Lady Vols take on ACC champ Virginia Tech. The Hokies are 24-1 in games in which they score at least 64 points.
More must-reads: