North Carolina State Beating Duke Put Up Monster TV Ratings

Duke falling to North Carolina State in the Elite 8 generated some big TV ratings.

The Wolfpack stunned the college basketball world by advancing to the Final Four as 11-seed after knocking off the Blue Devils 76-64.

It was a hell of a game, and the ratings prove that America was captivated and paying attention to NC State's epic run.

North Carolina State/Duke puts huge TV ratings.

The game drew an average audience of 15.41 million on CBS Sunday as the country watched DJ Burns and company go to work against arguably the most hated program in college basketball history.

Just how impressive was the viewership Sunday? It was the most-watched Elite 8 game since 2019 and most watched Easter Sunday game in more than a decade.

It turns out two in-state rivals meeting in the Elite 8 is great for business. 

For comparison, Purdue beating Tennessee on CBS put up a very strong 10.4 million viewers on CBS, but was far behind the NC State/Duke viewership.

Caitlin Clark and Iowa's win over Colorado had 6.9 million viewers on ABC. The ratings from Iowa's win over LSU still aren't known as of publication.

More than anything, the fact the ratings are so high is proof men's college basketball still remains incredibly popular and king…..by a massive margin. Although, there's no doubt the women's game is growing stronger.

The early round men's games averaged 9.06 million viewers across all four networks airing the action. That's slightly up from 2023, according to SportsMediaWatch.

Business isn't just good. It's booming and the fact Duke/NC State drew massive ratings is a sign the sport isn't slowing down.

Duke/NC State draws monster TV ratings. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)

Now, a big question is what might the ratings be if Purdue and UConn meet in the title game. I'd expect them to be through the roof. Hit me with your thoughts and predictions at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.