Plenty of eyeballs were locked in to see Ohio State's surprising achievement on Sunday.
The Buckeyes' 73-69 upset victory over No. 2 Purdue attracted an average viewership of 1.732 million, the most of any college basketball game broadcast for the public's consumption on Feb. 18.
| GAME | NETWORK | AVG. VIEWERS |
|---|---|---|
| OHIO STATE/PURDUE | CBS | 1.732M |
| GEORGIA/SOUTH CAROLINA (W) | ABC | 962K |
| NORTHWESTERN/INDIANA | FS1 | 492K |
| SETON HALL/ST. JOHN'S | FS1 | 405K |
| FAU/USF | ESPN | 401K |
Ohio State and Purdue pulled in nearly double the observers of the next-closest game, with the women's basketball showdown between undefeated No. 1 South Carolina and Georgia seeing an average viewership of 962,000.
The Buckeyes and Boilermakers more than tripled the viewership of the next-closest men's collegiate contest, the 492,000 that tuned in to watch Northwestern face Indiana.
Per Sports Media Watch, Ohio State vs. Purdue was the third-most watched sporting event on Sunday altogether, only beaten out by the NBA All-Star game and the PGA Tour's Genesis Open, which saw average viewerships of 4.091 and 3.245 million. More people tuned in to watch the Buckeyes and Boilermakers than the NHL's Stadium Series game between the New York Rangers and New York Islanders, which averaged 1.568 million viewers.
Ohio State returns to the floor to face Minnesota on Thursday. Tip-off for that contest is at 8 p.m. on Big Ten Network.
