Perfection Ignored (Largely)

UConn’s third run at women’s college basketball perfection Tuesday night managed to generate just a 2.1 cable rating and 2.7 million watchers for ESPN. Those numbers were 30% and 30.8% below the 3.0 rating and 3.9 million viewers that saw Candace Parker and Tennessee take out Stanford for a second-straight title in 2008, and Pat Summitt’s eighth overall.

Obviously, winning games by an average of 30 points and clipping the Louisville Cardinals with a late first-half run didn’t help. And watching Geno Auriemma combination of angst and smugness is not exactly Nielsen-friendly. (Summitt’s “look” and practice session after her team’s surprising first-round loss to Iowa State in this year’s tourney don’t exactly warm the heart, either)

Still, even in Hartford, the Huskies’ DMA den, the 2009 team drew less attention than any of Auriemma’s five other championship teams

Similarly, North Carolina’s early blowout of Michigan State in the men’s championship game had to be maddening for Sean McManus and other CBS executives. Black Rock had been sitting on a 7% tournament uptick until the final, which became the first men’s title game to draw below a 12.0 rating. The 11.8 mark on Monday night translated into 17.6 million viewers.

Don’t fans want to see and marvel at the best? Or is collegiate greatness a bore?

The Yankees dynasty in the 1990s — and all those who love or hate the Bronx Bombers — was good for Fox (although not as good as the Bosox ending 86 years of Ruthian remorse, nor will it be if Sweet Lou can finally end the Cubbies 101-year World Series drought).

Whether the Sixties, Eighties of the current decade, viewers want to watch the Lakers and Celtics, the NBA’s top franchises go at it. And ABC reaped an improved ratings rewards last June.

And what about New England’s 2007 chase of the 1973 Miami Dolphins’ perfect mark. The “Patriots premium” was in play for CBS and other networks — even as Belichick and Brady’s boys were burying the competition two seasons ago, until a fateful meeting with Eli and the New York Giants in the desert.

So, what gave with this year’s Madness on both the men’s and women’s side of the court? Casual viewers may have an excuse for bowing out early. But for those who profess to be college basketball fans,  you no doubt invested  hundreds of hours over the course of the season. And then, when it was finally time to cut down the nets, you reached for the remote?

I know there are other things to do, other shows to watch. But not hanging with and exalting in Tyler Hansbrough and Renee Montgomery during their defining senior moments in early April– that’s Madness.