CBS and Turner Sports have announced that the opening weekend of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament made history.
The opening weekend of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament didn't feature too many upsets. Outside of High Point's win over Wisconsin and Iowa's stunning victory against Florida, it was a rather chalky weekend.
But that doesn't mean that people weren't tuning in.
In fact, CBS and Turner Sports announced that the opening rounds of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament made history.
© Jeff Le-Imagn Images.
CBS Sports announced the historic ratings on Monday.
"Thursday’s games averaged 9.8 million viewers, the best opening day on record," March Madness announced.
"Primetime window averaged 12.5 million viewers, the most-watched First Round window ever."
College basketball fans were impressed
"The tournament is perfect as is! Love the use of CBS, TNT, TBS and TruTV.. don’t change a thing! Final Four should be on national TV for all to see!" one fan wrote.
"That's great. Maybe don't spread out your second-round games so much, with games ending at 11:30 p.m. ET. People want more action during the day, not five games at night—especially on a Sunday," one fan added.
"9.8 million people all collectively ignoring their jobs at the exact same time—nature is healing. 🤣💼 This isn't just a tournament; it’s a national productivity strike," one fan joked.
"Big schools have bigger alumni bases who want to watch their team + sports betting still going strong," another fan speculated.
Good for March Madness.
