The third matchup in the Duke-North Carolina series this season delivered ESPN its best conference tournament rating on record. Friday night’s game drew a 3.0 overnight for the ACC semifinal, a figure higher than any conference championship game on record with the cable net. ESPN’s previous record for a championship week telecast was the Syracuse-Louisville Big East finale in ’09, which drew a 2.5 overnight. Markets in the Carolinas led the charge for the Duke-UNC game, led by Greenville-Spartanburg at a 9.9 local rating, followed by Raleigh-Durham (9.7), Greensboro (8.9) and Charlotte (8.5). Duke-UNC also outdrew the ACC Championship on Saturday night, as ESPN drew a 2.8 for the Duke-Florida State matchup in primetime. Outside of the ACC games, yesterday's Michigan State-Michigan Big Ten Championship on CBS delivered the best numbers. That game drew a 2.5 overnight in the 3:30pm ET window, up from a 2.1 for Michigan-Purdue last year. Fox on Saturday night was slightly lower for the Villanova-Seton Hall Big East Championship, while ESPN yesterday also was slightly lower for the Auburn-Tennessee SEC title game. Seeing gains this year were the Big 12 Championship on ESPN on Saturday, the ACC title game and ESPN2's MAC title game on Saturday night, which had the presence of the Univ. at Buffalo (Austin Karp, THE DAILY).
BLOWN COVERAGE: USA TODAY's Andrew Joseph wrote CBS "could have done better" yesterday with Michigan State G Kyle Ahrens' first-half injury in the Big Ten Championship. Ahrens hurt his leg after "landing awkwardly," which sent him "screaming and in agonizing pain." Many fans "felt the broadcast went overboard with the replays and even telestrated the injury," and the "live microphone made it worse as viewers heard Ahrens audibly crying" (USATODAY.com, 3/17). On a more positive note, THESPUN.com's Andrew Holleran wrote CBS had a "cool moment" just before tipoff of the Big Ten Championship, when Tracy Wolfson interviewed Michigan State coach Tom Izzo and Michigan coach John Beilein "standing next to each other" (THESPUN.com, 3/17).
FREEDOM OF THE PRESS: In Chicago, Shannon Ryan noted Bradley Univ. was as "petty as a scorned teenager" when it denied Peoria Journal Star reporter Dave Reynolds access "because he didn't 'promote the Bradley brand.'" On Saturday, after the Journal Star "reported the rift and Bradley received national backlash on social media, the athletic department lifted the ban and issued a statement." The statement read in part, "We recognize that the media is not responsible for promoting the Bradley brand and that was never our expectation. We did not handle this situation appropriately and for that we apologize." School President Gary Roberts also issued a statement saying Bradley "institutionally does not believe media should promote the school" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 3/17). In Peoria, Eminian & Vlahos wrote Bradley's actions were "pure pettiness" and a "poor reflection on its coach," Brian Wardle (Peoria JOURNAL STAR, 3/17). Dodgers radio announcer and former ESPN anchor Charley Steiner, whom Bradley's School of Sports Communication is named after, said, "It is sad on so many levels. ... This whole episode goes against the grain of everything I believe in" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 3/16).
