In the opening round of the March Madness NCAA Tournament, the Jackson State and UConn game nearly blew viewership statistics out of the water on Saturday, March 23. The game pulled in 1.1 million viewers, ranking just second in the women's tournament behind Caitlin Clark and her Iowa Hawkeyes heavily anticipated March Madness opener against Holy Cross. That game drew in a whopping 3.2 million watchers as people tuned in to watch Clark drop 27 points, 10 assists, and eight rebounds.
Jackson State and UConn outdrew several other tournament matchups in its 1 PM EST timeslot on ABC. While some games had higher ratings on different networks, the Lady Tigers and Lady Huskies beat out the men's games featuring Oregon versus Creighton and NC State versus Oakland, both of which aired on both TBS and TruTV. The statistics for the games on TruTV fell far behind Jackson State's numbers, despite featuring a double overtime game and national darling-of-the-year Jack Gohlke.
The gap between the Jackson State-UConn matchup and the next closest women's tournament game was also significant. Tennessee and Green Bay garnered about 819,000 viewers, sitting about 200,000 behind Jackson State.
Multiple storylines increased the intrigue around the high-profile matchup on ABC, although the end result was underwhelming. First and foremost, UConn's women's basketball team has continually been one of the greatest collegiate programs in NCAA history. Although other schools like LSU and South Carolina have stolen the spotlight more recently, UConn always lurks in the Big East and March Madness. Additionally, they have a couple of the biggest stars in the sport: Paige Bueckers, Aaliyah Edwards, and of course, head coach Geno Auriemma.
Bueckers and Edwards put on a show against Jackson State. Those two, combined with Ashlynn Shade, outscored the Lady Tigers by themselves. Bueckers finished with 28 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists, and three steals. Shade ended up right behind her with 26 points and six rebounds. Those two went a combined 7-17 from three-point range. Lastly, Edwards also recorded a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds, along with two blocks. The three Huskies scored 74 points to Jackson State's 64.
Jackson State had a legitimate shot going into the game and competed well in the contest. Miya Crump showed her athleticism, tracking down Bueckers for a sensational block that was ultimately ruled goaltending. Ti'lan Boler finished the game with 25 points and five three-pointers in an attempt to fuel the epic upset bid.
UConn dealt with injuries all year and only dressed eight players, while the Lady Tigers arrived with a full bench. Furthermore, Jackson State bludgeoned the SWAC this season and likely deserved a higher seed than #14. They finished with a 26-7 record overall, but they went completely untouched in their conference. Jackson State won all 18 conference games, including those in the tournament. They defeated Prairie View A&M, Arkansas Pine-Bluff, and Alcorn State on their way to their ninth SWAC tournament title in school history, reclaiming the title after Southern upset them in the semifinal in 2023.
Also of note, the opening-round showdown between 15th-ranked Norfolk State and second-ranked Stanford drew 316,000 viewers on ESPN2 on Friday night. Stanford ultimately pulled off the 79-50 victory.
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