South Carolina’s thrilling 79-72 win over LSU on Valentine’s Day delivered monster ratings for ABC and ESPN.
An average of 1.7 million viewers, with a peak of 2.2 million, made it ESPN’s fourth most-watched regular-season game ever.
The game is also the most-watched women’s basketball game of the season on all networks. It surpassed South Carolina’s 93-50 win over Tennessee on February 8. That game averaged 1.5 million viewers and peaked at 2.1 million.
The big ratings included College GameDay, which preceded the game. 1.2 million viewers watched GameDay, up 66% from the same week last season.
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There have been five women’s basketball games that drew over one million viewers this season. The others are Tennessee-UConn on February 1 (1.2 million), Oklahoma-Texas on February 1 (1.1 million), and Iowa-Iowa State in December (1.0 million).
According to Nielsen, through February 8, South Carolina was the fourth most-watched women’s basketball team in the country across ABC, CW, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, FOX, FS1, FS2, ION, NBC, TruTV, TNT, and USA Network. Ohio State, Tennessee, and Iowa were the top three teams, but that will change once last weekend’s ratings are factored in.
South Carolina played in the most-watched women’s basketball game of all time, the 2024 national championship game. That game drew 18.9 million viewers, surpassing the men’s title game and any NBA game since 2020.
Ratings for women’s basketball are up 33% year over year.
Beginning in September 2025, Nielsen, the company that calculates ratings, changed how numbers are determined. The new methodology has boosted live sports across the board. But that doesn’t account for the entire increase.
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ESPN bet big on the matchup and was rewarded. The game was moved to Saturday night and put on ABC. The 40-minute edition of College GameDay, which included the first Top 16 Reveal of the season, preceded the game.
The rivalry between the Gamecocks and Tigers, including the fight at the 2024 SEC Tournament and MiLaysia Fulwiley switching sides, was heavily promoted as the jewel of “No Love Lost Saturday,” playing off Valentine’s Day and lead-in men’s basketball games featuring Kansas at Iowa State and Kentucky at Florida.