Miami's Elite Eight comeback win over Texas is the most-watched game of March Madness so far with over 11.2M tuning in to see No. 2 seed crash out
- Miami defeated Texas last weekend in a thrilling 88-81 win in Kansas City
- But the game's viewership didn't stack up well to past year's tournaments
- Click here for all your latest international Sports news from DailyMail.com
Miami's thrilling 88-81 win over Texas last Sunday is the most-watched game of this year's March Madness to date, as over 11.2 million people tuned in to watch the Hurricanes book their place in their first Final Four.
The No. 5 seed trailed by as much as 13 in the second half but clamped down on the Longhorns to turn around the game in Kansas City.
Elsewhere in last weekend's slate, Creighton vs. San Diego drew more than 8.3million viewers, UConn-Gonzaga saw nearly 8million tune in and about 7million people watched FAU beat Kansas State at Madison Square Garden, per OLBG.com.
Also in the top ten, 6.1million people saw Gonzaga beat UCLA, Michigan-Kansas State drew 5.9million, and Miami's upset of Houston was watched by 5.1million.
Additionally, Xavier-Texas, San Diego State-Alabama and Princeton-Creighton all posted at least 4.37million viewers respectively.
Wooga Poplar had 16 points and six rebounds for the victorious Miami against No. 2 seed Texas
Marcus Carr celebrates making a three-pointer in the eventual Texas loss
Jordan Miller (C), who was 13/13 from the free throw line, celebrates against Texas on Sunday
Only San Diego state remains from that list of teams.
The viewership performance of Miami-Texas came after an extremely impressive first round, as it finished as the most-watched one on record earlier this month.
That was helped by Fairleigh Dickinson's shock upset over No. 1 seed Purdue (4.37million viewers), while Marquette-Michigan State in the second round paced the first weekend with 10.9million, according to Nielsen data.
However, Miami-Texas performed poorly compared to other years.
It was down 17 percent in viewership from North Carolina-Saint Peter’s last year (13.58million) and was the least-watched Elite Eight game in the late Sunday window since 2016, according to Sports Media Watch.
And with No. 4 seed UConn the highest-seeded team in the Final Four, it seems unlikely that the final stage will be able to replicate last year's lofty mark.
A whopping 18.1million viewers watched Kansas beat UNC in the final in 2022, a record for the men's championship on pay- TV.
After Duke, Villanova, UNC and Kansas made last year's Final Four, this year's national semifinals do not have the same blue blood feel.
No. 9 seed Florida Atlantic will play No. 5 San Diego State , and the Owls hadn't even won a tournament game until this season.
In the other game, Miami and UConn will face off in Saturday's late contest.
After that, the title will be played on Monday, with the potential of a first-time champ in FAU, San Diego State or Miami.