The Michigan men's basketball team was the most-watched college basketball team during the 2025-26 season, averaging 3.353 million viewers per game, according to Nielsen. They outperformed Duke, UConn, Purdue, and Illinois in viewership.
Who had more viewership than the Michigan menās basketball team this season? Nobody.
The Wolverines were the most-watched team in college basketball for the entirety of the 2025-26 campaign, according to Nielsen.
Nielsen released data for the top five menās college basketball teams and Michigan led the list with an average of 3.353 million viewers, ahead of Duke (2.965 million), UConn (2.842 million), Purdue (2.554 million) and Illinois (2.377 million).
Michigan forward Yaxel Lendeborg, arms up, reacts when he gets ready to embrace his mother, Yissel Raposo, during the postgame celebration after winning the national title.
The rankings were based on linear TV viewership from Nov. 1 to April 6 and included the NCAA Tournament, which Michigan won to capture its second national title in program history. TV networks included were ABC, CBS, CNBC, CW, ESPN, ESPN2, FOX, FS1, FS2, ION, NBC, truTV, TNT and USA.
The biggest draw was Michiganās 69-63 win over UConn in the national championship game, which averaged 18.3 million viewers and was the most-watched NCAA Tournament final since 2019. The game was broadcast on TBS, TNT, truTV and HBO Max and peaked at 20.4 million viewers.
Michiganās Final Four triumph over Arizona also garnered plenty of eyeballs, with 14.2 million viewers. The Fab Five altcast during the national semifinal that featured Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson from live inside Lucas Oil Stadium was the most-watched altcast on TNT sports in eight years.
A Big Ten team led the way on the womenās side, as well, with UCLA averaging 1.666 million viewers. The Bruins were followed by South Carolina (1.57 million), Texas (1.171 million), UConn (835,000) and Notre Dame (818,000).
The Big Ten basketball sweep snapped lengthy national championship droughts for the conference. The Wolverines won the first menās title by a Big Ten school since Michigan State in 2000. The Bruins beat South Carolina to capture the leagueās first womenās title since Purdue in 1999.
@jamesbhawkins
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This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Michigan basketball most-watched college hoops team of 2025-26 season
Michigan basketball had an average viewership of 3.353 million viewers during the 2025-26 season.
Duke had the second-highest viewership with an average of 2.965 million viewers.
Michigan led the viewership rankings, significantly ahead of UConn, Purdue, and Illinois, who had 2.842 million, 2.554 million, and 2.377 million viewers, respectively.
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