Illinois-Ohio State Big Ten Tournament Championship Most-Watched College Basketball Game Of Season

Sunday’s Big Ten Tournament championship between Illinois and Ohio State was the most-watched college basketball game of the 2020-21 season, CBS Sports announced on Tuesday morning.

The top 6 most-watched college basketball games this season have aired on CBS, led by Sunday's Big Ten Championship Game pic.twitter.com/PyMg0p3NQR
— CBS Sports PR (@CBSSportsGang) March 16, 2021

The game, which the Fighting Illini won in overtime 91-88, saw an average of 3.678 million viewers and peaked at 5.783 million viewers from 6 to 6:09 p.m., though that had more to do with the fact that CBS’s Selection Sunday programming was set to begin at that time.

The Buckeyes were also part of the most-watched regular season game of the year, though it was also in defeat, as an average of 2.63 million viewers tuned in for Michigan’s 92-87 win in Columbus on Feb. 21.

According to the release, the top six most-watched college basketball games this season aired on CBS, which – along with affiliate stations TBS, TNT and TruTV – is home to the NCAA Tournament. The first and second rounds will air on all four networks, while the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight will be broadcast exclusively on CBS and TBS. The tournament will wrap with the Final Four and national championship airing on CBS on April 3 and 5, respectively.

With a conference tournament title on its resume, Illinois (23-6 overall) earned the No. 1 seed in Midwest Region and will open the tournament against Drexel on Friday. Meanwhile, Ohio State (21-9) is a No. 2 seed in the South and will meet Oral Roberts that same afternoon.

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