NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Game Crushes Men's in Ratings

The NCAA women's national championship game set a record Sunday for most watched women's basketball game ever. Then came Tuesday's news that they crushed the viewership of the men.

Monday’s men’s game on TNT and TBS, where UConn won its second straight title game against Purdue, drew an average of 14.8 million viewers.  That represented the slightest of increases over last year's number of 14.69 when the Huskies faced off against SDSU.

Sunday's game where South Carolina beat Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes resulted in 18.7 million viewers.  That's the most of any basketball game (men's or women's, college or NBA) since 2019.  The broadcast peaked at 24 million viewers.

It wasn't just this game either.  Clark and the Hawkeyes set viewership records for women’s college basketball in three straight games leading up to the championship, drawing 12.3 million viewers for their rematch against LSU in the Elite Eight and 14.2 million viewers against the UConn Huskies in the Final Four.

Clark is off to the WNBA and next year's odds mostly remove Iowa from the equation among the women while UConn is no longer favored in the men's championship.  The men's college basketball championship odds were released ahead of Tuesday with Duke, North Carolina, and even a John Calipari-less Kentucky ahead of UConn. 

Odds to Win the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship 2025

2025 NCAAM Championship

Duke                            10/1

North Carolina              11/1

Kentucky                      13/1

Alabama                       14/1

Kansas                          15/1

UConn                          15/1

Arizona                         16/1

Houston                       16/1

Baylor                           18/1

Auburn                         20/1

Iowa State                    22/1

Arkansas                       25/1

Gonzaga                       25/1

Purdue                         28/1

Illinois                          40/1

Michigan State              40/1

Tennessee                    40/1

Texas                            40/1

BYU                              50/1

Creighton                     50/1

Florida                          50/1

Marquette                    50/1

Miami                           50/1

UCLA                            60/1

Michigan                      66/1

Ohio State                    66/1

St. John’s                      66/1

Saint Mary’s                  66/1

Wisconsin                     66/1

Maryland                      75/1

Villanova                      75/1

San Diego State             80/1

Texas Tech                    80/1

USC                              80/1

Memphis                      90/1

Mississippi State           90/1

Missouri                       90/1

Texas A&M                   90/1

Clemson                       100/1

Kansas State                 100/1

LSU                              100/1

Oregon                         100/1

Xavier                           100/1

Georgia                        120/1

Indiana                         120/1

Louisville                      120/1

Oklahoma                     120/1

Providence                   120/1

Syracuse                       120/1

TCU                              120/1

Virginia                         120/1

Wake Forest                 120/1

Washington                  120/1

West Virginia                120/1

Cincinnati                     150/1

Georgia Tech                150/1

Iowa                             150/1

Nebraska                      150/1

North Carolina State      150/1

Notre Dame                  150/1

Ole Miss                       150/1

Penn State                    150/1

Pittsburgh                     150/1

South Carolina              150/1

Boise State                   200/1

Butler                           200/1

Colorado                      200/1

Dayton                         200/1

Florida State                 200/1

Nevada                         200/1

New Mexico                 200/1

Northwestern               200/1

Utah                             200/1

Virginia Tech                 200/1

Georgetown                 300/1

Minnesota                    300/1

Oklahoma State            300/1

SMU                             300/1

UCF                              300/1

Arizona State                400/1

Colorado State              400/1

Florida Atlantic             400/1

Indiana State                400/1

Stanford                       400/1

Utah State                    400/1

Vanderbilt                    400/1

Washington State         400/1

Boston College              500/1

California                      500/1

DePaul                         500/1

Grand Canyon               500/1

Oregon State                500/1

UNLV                            500/1

VCU                              500/1

- Tyrone Black, Gambling911.com