UCLA and Michigan State was the most-watched First Four game since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 68 teams in 2011, according to CBS and Turner Sports.
The networks said the Bruins overtime victory against Michigan State averaged 3 million viewers and peaked at 3.3 million from 11 p.m.-11:15 p.m. EDT, based on data from Nielsen.
Overall, the four games played Thursday and televised on TBS and truTV drew 7.6 million viewers across all platforms, including streaming.
Viewership was up 36% from 2019′s First Four, according to the networks. The entire First Four was played on one day for the first time in this tournament. Usually, two of the games are played on Tuesday and the other two on Wednesday when the tournament is in a normal schedule.
