Michigan State played in two of the most-watched games in March
Michigan State men's basketball has been a stalwart of the sport for the better part of three decades, and is one of the most recognizable brands in college basketball.
With two national titles, 10 Final Four appearances and 35 appearances in the NCAA Tournament — including 24 consecutive seasons — few programs in America can match the success that the Spartans have had on the hardwood.
One of those few programs is the Duke Blue Devils, so it comes at no surprise that Sunday's showdown between Michigan State and Duke drew the largest television audience of any game in the NCAA Tournament's opening weekend.
Sunday's Michigan State-Duke game drew 11.2 million viewers on CBS, making it the most-watched NCAA Tournament game of this year's first week.
— Kevin Pauga (@KevinPauga) March 22, 2022
Obviously, the matchup between the Spartans and Blue Devils was headlined by the head coaches, Tom Izzo and Mike Krzyzewski, who met for the final time in their careers. Coach K got the last laugh, and improved his record to 13-3 overall and 4-2 in the NCAA Tournament over Izzo.
Certainly, there is suspicion that Michigan State was deliberately put in the West Region with Duke for the sole purpose of creating the big television rating. The Spartans and Blue Devils have played in the same region in each of the last three NCAA Tournaments that both programs have participated in (Duke missed the field in 2021).
Some are hell-bent on their belief that the selection committee puts the field of 68 together to produce matchups like Duke-MSU, while others think the selection process is much more complicated.
Let's put this to bed. Bracketing principles are the top priority. There were 6 Big Ten teams in the bottom half of regions that needed to be spread out and multiple regular season rematches to avoid. When bracketing the seed list using those rules, it makes perfect sense. https://t.co/pwEJ13CAkV
— Kevin Pauga (@KevinPauga) March 22, 2022
Whether it was the selection committee's motivation or not, there's no denying the fact that the Spartans draw eyeballs at a rate in which few brands do.
MSU-Duke wasn't the only "most-watched" game that Michigan State played in this March. During the Big Ten Tournament, the Spartans' quarterfinals matchup with Wisconsin was the most-watched game in the history of the Big Ten Network with over 1.1 million viewers.
It was a 𝐁𝟏𝐆 Week.
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) March 15, 2022
🏀 Highest-rated @B1GMBBall Tournament in network history by +25%
🏀 Most-watched game in network history with over 1.1 million viewers tuning in for @BadgerMBB vs. @MSU_Basketball
Details: https://t.co/K7eSId7vJJ pic.twitter.com/NHNjeLUljl
These games further illustrate that Michigan State is one of the biggest draws in college basketball. It's why the Spartans are involved in the "Champions Classic" with Duke, Kentucky and Kansas which tips off the sport's season each October.
Of course, we would have loved to see Michigan State go deeper into the NCAA Tournament, with a matchup with Texas Tech in the Sweet 16 and potentially a showdown with top overall seed Gonzaga in the Elite Eight.
Unfortunately, the Spartans will have to wait until the 2022-23 season to make another run at a Final Four, but TV ratings like those listed above are absolutely selling points for Izzo and his staff as they go on the recruiting trail and seek top prospects to don the Green and White.
