WVU's Historic Big 12 Championship Draws Record Viewership

The West Virginia Women's basketball team is still celebrating their win over TCU in the Big 12 Tournament Championship on Sunday as they await to see who and where they will be playing in the NCAA Tournament.

The Mountaineers simply outplayed the Horned Frogs from the jump after suffering two losses to them in the regular season. Now, the Big 12 Conference is talking about just how many people witnessed WVU accomplish something they haven’t in nearly a decade.

The conference announced on their X account that Sunday’s game was, in fact, the most-watched Big 12 women’s championship game on record, averaging 853k viewers. The game produced a stark 12% increase year over year, showing that not only was the Mountaineer nation watching, but the whole country was tuned in.

Everyone watches women's sports. #Big12WBB | @Phillips66Gas pic.twitter.com/mSC8n55wpa
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) March 11, 2026

The Mountaineers led after all four quarters and seemed to have cleaned up everything that went wrong in their first two matchups against TCU. The margins were very thin in the previous two contests, but West Virginia felt more comfortable this time around. Senior guard Jordan Harrison earned the honor of being the tournament's most outstanding player and made the most of her opportunity to show the nation why she was also named the conference's Defensive Player of the Year.

This game also marks the highest viewership for a WVU women’s basketball game since their NCAA Tournament game against Caitlyn Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes back in 2024. The Mountaineers may have lost that game 64-54, but many came away complimenting the job that head coach Mark Kellogg did with that team in his first season. That defensive intensity that many saw against the Hawkeyes a few years ago is still present. Kellogg has won at least 25 games in each of his first three seasons with the program.

The more eyes, the better for hosting purposes

Going into the Big 12 Tournament, the Mountaineers seemed to be on the outside looking in as far as receiving a top-four seed, which would grant them the opportunity to host their first and second round games in the NCAA Tournament. However, with three impressive wins and one over the TCU Horned Frogs in the championship game, their record viewership only increases their odds of hosting March basketball in Morgantown.

Kellogg and his team have put the nation on notice. You can find out if the Mountaineers will be hosting and who their opponent will be in the tournament on Sunday at 8 p.m. on ESPN.