ESPN was happy but that is a really small number for a championship game. The semi-finals drew 28 million. A Sunday Night Football game from a few years ago Dallas/Washington which was one of the highest rated ever drew 26.6 million viewers. Obviously there were some negatives for NCAA championship game. It was on ESPN, not an over the air network. It was on Monday and it followed the biggest NFL football weekend of the year.
Remember when college football was King and the NFL was just trying to gain in popularity in the mid-fifties until the 1958 Giants-Colts championship game. If you go back in time the Oregon-Ohio State game would have the buried the NFL in ratings. This was just like when college baskets buried the NBA in popularity. Things sure have changed.
On Fox.....This game was on cable......33 million is huge for a cable show.
