Television ratings for Syracuse games in the BIG EAST Tournament were some of the highest in the past 10 years.
SU a TV Draw for BIG EAST Tournament
3/15/2006 1:34:53 PM | Men's Basketball
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The 2006 BIG EAST Men’s Basketball Championship Presented by Aeropostale recorded the tournament’s best television ratings since 1996. The 2006 Championship had 10 games on ESPN – the most ever – as well as one contest on ESPN2. Syracuse, which repeated as conference champions by beating No. 15 Pittsburgh, 65-61, in the Championship Game, became the lowest-seeded team to win the Big East Championship – the Orange came in as the No. 9 seed – and just the third school to repeat (Georgetown, 1984 and 1985, and Connecticut, 1998 and 1999. The Championship Game averaged 2,352,000 households and a 2.6 rating. It was the network’s most-viewed tournament game since 1998.
Syracuse and Pittsburgh drew the highest rating for a championship game since 1996, while the SU semifinal game against Georgetown was the highest rated semifinal game since 1996. The Orange's first round game against Cincinnati drew the highest rating ever for a first round game that tipped off at Noon, while SU's quarterfinal game against Connecticut recorded the highest rating ever for a BIG EAST Tournament game in the Noon time slot.
The 2006 BIG EAST Men’s Basketball Championship featured five nationally ranked teams, including the top two teams in the nation at the time – No. 1 Connecticut and No. 2 Villanova.
ESPN/ESPN2 has televised the entire BIG EAST Tournament since 1996. The BIG EAST is the only conference to have all of its tournament games on ESPN/ESPN2. In addition, the BIG EAST has more tournament games on national television than any other conference.
ESPN’s 26 men’s basketball tournament telecasts averaged 1,032,000 households.
*Rating notes below apply to the BIG EAST Championship (since 1996)
Saturday, March 11
Championship Game (8:00 pm, ESPN)
Syracuse 65, Pittsburgh 61
Rating: 2.58 (Highest Championship rating since 1996)
Friday, March 10
Semifinal Game 1 (7:00 pm, ESPN)
Syracuse 58, Georgetown 57
Rating: 1.44 (Highest semifinal #1 rating since 1996)
Semifinal Game 2 (9:00 pm, ESPN)
Pittsburgh 68, Villanova 54
Rating: 1.40 (Second highest semifinal #2 rating since 1999)
Thursday March 9
Quarterfinal Game 1 (Noon, ESPN)
Syracuse 86, Connecticut 84 (OT)
Rating: 1.02 (Highest Noon rating ever)
Quarterfinal Game 2 (2:00 pm, ESPN)
Georgetown 62, Marquette 59
Rating: 0.74 (Highest 2:00p QF rating since 1999)
Quarterfinal Game 3 (7:00 pm, ESPN2)
Villanova 87, Rutgers 55
Rating: 0.92 (2nd highest ESPN2 tourney rating ever)
Quarterfinal Game 4 (9:00 pm, ESPN)
Pittsburgh 68, West Virginia 57
Rating: 1.47 (Highest QF rating since 1996)
Wednesday, March 8
First Round Game 1 (Noon, ESPN)
Syracuse 74, Cincinnati 73
Rating: 0.68 (Highest 1st Rd Noon rating ever)
First Round Game 2 (2:00 pm, ESPN)
Georgetown 67, Notre Dame 63
Rating: 0.78 (Ties highest 1st Rd afternoon rating ever)
First Round Game 3 (7:00 pm, ESPN)
Rutgers 61, Seton Hall 48
Rating: 0.86
First Round Game 4 (9:00 pm, ESPN)
Pittsburgh 61, Louisville 56
Rating: 1.37 (Highest 1st Rd rating ever)
Highlights | Women's Lacrosse at #4 Northwestern
Friday, March 13
Regy Thorpe Postgame Press Conference vs. #4 Northwestern
Friday, March 13
Press Conference | Men's Lacrosse at Air Force
Friday, March 13
Highlights | Syracuse at Air Force
Thursday, March 12
