4.3 Million Reasons to Fix College Basketball’s Schedule

Michigan–Duke outdrew most NBA games — so why are the sport’s biggest matchups buried in November and December?

Photo by Todd Greene on Unsplash

Michigan and Duke proved Rick Neuheisel has been right this whole time.

Sssh. Don’t tell him. He will hold it against me forever if I acknowledge his vast intelligence.

But seriously — he was right about this, as he honestly is about most things pertaining to college sports. Don’t ask that dude anything about tech. He can barely send an email or log onto Zoom. But college athletics? Different story.

Many have suggested he should be commissioner of college sports, and honestly, I agree. He’s far smarter than the vast majority of small-minded, greedy, lacking-foresight leaders who got us into our current college sports conundrum with NIL and collectives. Hi, Mark Emmert! (Former NCAA President)

That’s another subject for another day.

This is about college basketball scheduling.

Rick has stood on this hill for years: the best regular-season games in college basketball should be played in February and early March. Non-conference games. The kind you usually see stuffed into holiday tournaments around Thanksgiving and Christmas.

This season alone, No. 1 Duke played Kansas, Texas, Arkansas, Florida, and Michigan State. Massive games. Top-25 matchups. All of them played before December 9th.

Back when nobody gives a shit.

Well, maybe a handful of hoops hardcores do — but let’s be honest, that’s football season. College football is king. Basketball simply doesn’t matter to the vast majority of people until around now.

And then Saturday happened.

Michigan–Duke in Washington, D.C.
$300+ get-in ticket.
4.3 million viewers on ESPN.
Peaked at 5.4 million.

That is a HUGE number.

To put 4.3 million in perspective: that outdraws most regular-season NBA games on ESPN or TNT. The typical nationally televised NBA game lands somewhere between 1.5 and 3 million viewers. Even many strong MLB Sunday Night Baseball broadcasts live in the 1.5–2.2 million range.

Michigan–Duke nearly doubled that.

In February.
On cable.

That’s not “good for college basketball.”
That’s major American sports inventory.

Earlier in the day, Houston–Arizona averaged 2.4 million. And as far as total content consumed, Saturday was ESPN’s most-watched day of college basketball ever.

The appetite is there.

It’s time the networks force the issue and demand more games like Michigan–Duke during the later portion of the schedule — when people are actually watching and invested. Promote them like Yankees–Red Sox. Go wall-to-wall with it. GameDay on site. Storylines. Star power. Stakes.

College basketball is fun. It’s compelling. It’s a good product.

But it’s mismanaged and underleveraged.

Saturday’s ratings prove it.

Now here’s where it gets interesting.

This is the time of year people love bracket talk and bubble watch. They love upsets. They love buzzer-beaters. This is when the sport starts to breathe.

Sure, we get great games every night right now — but they’re predominantly conference games. And what do they even mean anymore? Especially in leagues like the SEC, Big Ten, and Big 12 where you play so many Quad 1 games that losing almost doesn’t matter. It’s all about seeding for a conference tournament that feels wildly irrelevant!

Joe Lunardi’s latest bracketology has Auburn in the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers are 15-13. Fifteen and thirteen.

Yet if the season ended today, because of strength of schedule and Quad 1 opportunities, Auburn is in the Big Dance under first-year coach Steven Pearl.

It’s almost like when Auburn loses, it doesn’t matter. Just collect Quad 1 wins and you’re good.

Meanwhile, Miami (Ohio) is 28-0 and in first place in the MAC. But most experts agree that if the RedHawks lose at all in the MAC Tournament, it’s over. Assuming they win the regular season but stumble in the conference tourney, their fate is likely the NIT.

How messed up is that?

Why can’t we have them play Auburn? Or Mizzou. Or TCU. Right now. Neutral floor. February. Put it on ESPN.

Show us what you’re made of.

You’re telling me Miami (Ohio) vs. Auburn on a Saturday night wouldn’t draw? Based on what we just saw, I guarantee it would rate well. TV would be happy. The fans would be engaged. And the committee would get real data instead of spreadsheet math.

Scheduling could give college hoops the boost it needs before the NCAA Tournament. People like basketball. They just need to know when and why to care.

Michigan and Duke showed us.

Rick was right.

Again.

(Please don’t tell him I said that.)