NCAA Tournament CBS Selection Show Credit: CBS
By Matt Yoder on

Sports ratings have been going up over the last year and the NCAA Tournament Selection Show is no exception.

Going into the 2026 edition of March Madness, the bubble drama was all centered around what would happen with Miami (Ohio). The RedHawks became the subject of a national debate, largely thanks to the antics of CBS Sports college basketball analyst Bruce Pearl. Even though Miami finished the regular season undefeated, their first round loss in the MAC Tournament saw them somehow vulnerable for at-large selection. On the other side, Pearl’s former team Auburn, coached by his son Steven, was the poster child of mediocre power conference teams looking to get a berth.

In the end, Miami was in and Auburn was out, which made for some awkward television when Bruce Pearl had to address it live on the air. But the tension was certainly a major storyline. And although it’s impossible to say just how much the buzz aided viewership, the Selection Show did see its audience rise in 2026.

CBS drew 6.4 million viewers for the special, the largest audience for the selection show in 12 years and a 12% increase over last year.

Thankfully, CBS cut right to the chase with the unveiling of this year’s bracket whereas that has not always been the case in past years. And this year’s rating shows that the reveal does not to be artificially drawn out and that viewership will remain strong. Viewership peaked at 7.1 million on the telecast.

Naturally, CBS was also helped by a very strong lead-in from the Big Ten championship game. Purdue’s victory over Michigan was the most-watched ever with 4.7 million viewers, besting the 2013 championship game between Ohio State and Wisconsin.

College basketball notched viewership increases across networks this season. With a strong selection show heading into March Madness, expect to see some very high audience numbers this month as well.

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