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The NCAA men's basketball final was watched by 14.82 million viewers on Monday night. The game between Purdue and UConn men moved 4% ahead of last year's final.
The men's final with Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes was 4 million fewer than the women's final.
The Iowa women drew 18.87 million viewers in their NCAA final game against the South Carolina women's basketball juggernaut.
Kaitlin Clark and her Iowa teammates were involved in the four most watched games in women's college basketball history.
Nicole Auerbach reports:
A major WBB viewership record was set a year ago, with Iowa-LSU receiving 9.9M viewers. It was then broken by the Iowa–LSU rematch in the Elite Eight, broken again by Iowa–UConn in the Final Four, and broken again by Iowa–South Carolina in the title game.
Caitlin Clark Influence:
** 2023 NCAA Championship with Iowa vs. LSU – 9.9 million the audience.
** April 1, 2024 NCAA quarterfinal game with Iowa vs. defending champion LSU – 12.3 million audience

** April 5, 2024 NCAA Semifinals with Iowa vs. UConn Huskies – 14.2 million Spectators (almost on top of the men's final game)
** April 7, 2024 NCAA Final with Iowa vs. UC – 18.87 million The audience almost doubled the previous year's record!
A major WBB viewership record was set a year ago, with Iowa-LSU receiving 9.9M viewers. It was then broken by the Iowa–LSU rematch in the Elite Eight, broken again by Iowa–UConn in the Final Four, and broken again by Iowa–South Carolina in the title game. https://t.co/jJTHe03rMZ
– Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) 8 April 2024
Despite Caitlin Clark's massive success and record interest in women's basketball for the first time ever – the stars of yesteryear showed nothing but jealousy and hatred for Caitlin this year.
Iowa's Kaitlyn Clark broke every possible record in women's and men's basketball this year.
• DI scoring leader (3,951 points)
• Only DI player with 3,500 points, 1,000 AST and 850 RB in career.
• Most points in a single season in DI WBB (1,234)
• Most 3-point points in a single season in DI history (201)
• Most career NCAA scoring in points (491), AST (152), 3 points (78).
• Only player with 40 points, 10 AST at NCAA Gramms (she has 2).
• Only player in NCAAT with 30+ pt trips-DBL
• Only DI player to lead CBB in PTS and AST in a single season 2x
• B1G All-Time Best Leader (1,144)
• Only player with 3 career 25+ pt trips-DBL (he has 10)
Caitlin Clark also cheered on women's basketball games – something unimaginable before entering college.
Check out how Caitlin compared to the rest of the women's league in her performance.
Darktown: Caitlin Clark! pic.twitter.com/fN5S1f4D1x
– Secret Base (@secretbase) 8 April 2024
Former women's record holder Lynette Woodard eclipsed Clark's all-time scoring record.
Male jocks have seen their records broken due to a series of rule changes over the decades without displaying the level of jealousy we've seen Caitlin Clarke ignite.
Men destroy themselves. Women destroy the world. pic.twitter.com/ZwZSvR3I14
– Jason Whitlock (@WhitlockJason) 7 April 2024
Woodard forgot to mention that when she was in college she played against much smaller schools. But anything.
Caitlin may have the 3 point line but she didn't play Wayne State, Delta State, Central Missouri, Northwest Missouri State, Grand View, Northwest Oklahoma State and Wayland Baptist for regular season games like you. If she had https://t.co/0g0SDB8p7w she would have broken your record very quickly
– Hawkeye Historian (@Hawk_Historian) 7 April 2024
Clark and his Iowa teammates sold tickets to every home game and set sold-out or attendance records at nearly every major venue they played in all season.
Clark and Iowa broke the viewership record on ESPN on Monday and then broke that record in the semifinals on Friday.
Via ClutchPoint.
Caitlin Clark single-handedly took women's basketball from unwatchable to must-watch television again.
The WNBA elite ruined Clark. Former players for some reason minimized his achievements. Even several announcers downplayed Clark's popularity.
Dave Portnoy posted this on Sunday regarding the hate directed at Caitlin Clarke.
Jealousy is a stinky cologne. Nobody wants to give their flowers to Caitlin Clark @stoolpresidente pic.twitter.com/yWAP5tVje1
– Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) 7 April 2024
Women would rather destroy Caitlin Clark than acknowledge her greatness.
Jason Whitlock would have given Kaitlin the most logical advice which would have been to tell Kaitlin to stay at Iowa for another year, make millions, and then bypass the WNBA and retire.
Kaitlin Clark should return to Iowa next season, make almost $20 million in a vacuum, retire from basketball, marry her boyfriend, and avoid the mess that awaits her in the WNBA. I'm not kidding.
– Jason Whitlock (@WhitlockJason) 7 April 2024
Don't miss Jason Whitlock's on-point discussion of the WNBA's vicious attacks on Caitlin Clark.