College Basketball TV Ratings: Most-watched women’s teams of the 2025-26 season

On3.com

After women’s college basketball TV ratings rose during the 2025-26 season, viewership continued to increase during the NCAA Tournament. Now, Nielsen has released the Top 5 most-watched teams of the year.

This year’s NCAA women’s basketball tournament drew the second-best viewership ever, ESPN announced last week. That includes the third most-watched national championship ever on the network behind only the 2023 and 2024 games. It also followed a regular season that saw a 19% increase in TV ratings from last season.

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On3 tracked the most-watched women’s college basketball teams throughout the 2025-26 season, according to Nielsen Big Data + Panel data. Here is the full Top 5.

1. UCLA – 1.666 million

Led by senior standouts such as Lauren Betts and Gabriela Jaquez, UCLA won its first-ever national championship with a dominant performance against South Carolina. The Bruins’ run through the NCAA Tournament also helped them become the most-watched team of the year, according to Nielsen.

UCLA’s win over South Carolina drew 9.9 million viewers on average, easily the most-watched game of the season. Additionally, the Bruins’ victory over Texas in the Final Four drew 5 million viewers, giving Cori Close’s group two of the three most-watched games of the year.

2. South Carolina – 1.570 million

Another strong year for South Carolina under Dawn Staley ended with a run to the national championship game. While the Gamecocks fell to UCLA in the title game, they continued to move the needle as the second most-watched team of the season.

In addition to the championship game, South Carolina played in the second most-watched game of the season with 5.4 million viewers tuning in for the Final Four against UConn. The Gamecocks finished with a 36-4 overall record, as well as another SEC title.

3. Texas – 1.171 million

After last year’s Final Four run, Texas didn’t miss a beat in 2025-26. The Longhorns made another run to the national semifinal under Vic Schaefer and became the third most-watched team in women’s college basketball, according to Nielsen.

Texas’ loss to UCLA in Phoenix drew 5.0 million viewers as the third-best audience of the year. Additionally, UT played in two of the top regular season games, including an average of 1.4 million viewers for the season-ending win over South Carolina.

4. UConn – 835,000

During the NCAA women’s basketball tournament, two UConn games ranked in the top four most-watched games of the year. The Final Four loss to South Carolina led the way, though the game drew more for what happened in the postgame handshake line.

UConn’s Elite Eight win over Notre Dame also averaged 3.1 million viewers to rank fourth among the most-watched games of the year. The Huskies were led by potential No. 1 WNBA Draft pick Azzi Fudd and sophomore standout Sarah Strong as they returned to the Final Four.

5. Notre Dame – 818,000

Rounding out the Top 5 most-watched women’s basketball teams of the year, Notre Dame put together an impressive run to the Elite Eight, led by Hannah Hidalgo. The Fighting Irish averaged 818,000 viewers across both the regular season and postseason, putting them at No. 5 in viewership, according to Nielsen.

Notre Dame’s season-ending loss to UConn was the Fighting Irish’s top audience of the year with 3.1 million viewers tuning in for the matchup. This year’s Elite Eight run was the first for the program under Niele Ivey after four straight trips to the Sweet Sixteen.

As a whole, it was a strong year of TV ratings for college women’s basketball with increases across the sport. The surge in viewership for the Final Four helped those teams lead the most-watched teams of the season, as well.