Over the weekend, ABC aired its second women’s basketball game of the season and FOX had a marquee non-conference matchup. Both games delivered strong TV ratings to become the most-watched women’s college basketball games of the season to date.
UConn’s victory over Tennessee led the charge with 1.216 million viewers on FOX, the network announced. That came after Texas’ rivalry win over Oklahoma averaged 1.1 million viewers on ABC, ESPN announced, to become the second-most watched game of 2025-26 across all networks.
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Both games topped Iowa State’s victory over Iowa, which averaged 1 million viewers in December, for the top game of the year so far. Now, three women’s college basketball games have topped that mark as TV ratings rise through conference play.
ESPN has seen a 39% year-over-year increase for women’s basketball viewership, as well, the network said. In fact, two of the three games to average 1 million viewers – UConn vs. Tennessee and Oklahoma vs. Tennessee – aired on ESPN’s family of networks.
February marked the first day of both men’s and women’s college basketball on ABC. The network also carried Florida’s victory over Alabama, which set the stage for UConn vs. Tennessee and averaged 1.6 million viewers.
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UConn, Texas remain top women’s hoops draws
UConn is in the midst of an impressive follow-up to last year’s national championship team, with returning playmakers Azzi Fudd and Sarah Strong leading the way. The Huskies stayed undefeated with the victory over Tennessee, improving to 21-0 heading into Thursday’s game at DePaul.
From a TV ratings perspective, UConn is also one of the big draws in women’s college basketball. The Huskies sat just outside Nielsen’s Top 10 most-watched teams as of Jan. 18, though Nielsen confirmed to On3 they sat at No. 11. By playing in the top game of the 2025-26 season, UConn is sure to jump into the rankings with the next update.
Texas, meanwhile, sat at No. 8 in the most recent Top 10 most-watched teams from Nielsen. The Longhorns have once again been a force after last year’s Final Four appearance, improving to 21-2 with the victory over Oklahoma. Madison Booker helped lead the charge with 16 points, five rebounds and five assists while Justice Carlton had 16 points to go with eight boards.
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UT’s only losses came against South Carolina and LSU through a challenging part of the SEC schedule, and the Longhorns will get ready for a rematch with with the Tigers on Thursday, which will air on ESPN.
