2025 NCAA Tournament: First Four draws massive ratings fueled by UNC-San Diego State, Texas-Xavier

Before a full day of basketball kicked off the 2025 NCAA Tournament first round, the First Four served as the appetizer. The matchups also resulted in massive viewership numbers as March Madness got underway.

First Four viewership was up 20% from a year ago, the NCAA announced Thursday. Wednesday’s game between Xavier and Texas led the way. An average of 2.4 million people tuned in for the matchup, which saw the Musketeers come back to defeat the Longhorns and advance to the first round of the NCAA Tournament. It followed Mount St. Mary’s win over American, which averaged 1.4 million viewers.

North Carolina and San Diego State also drew a big audience with an average of 2.2 million viewers tuning in. The Tar Heels cruised past the Aztecs in the second game of the day after coming in as the last team in the NCAA Tournament field.

TNT Sports and CBS Sports deliver record-setting viewership for this year's First Four ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/p6jnD8J0vf

— March Madness Men’s Basketball TV (@MM_MBB_TV) March 20, 2025

Although Xavier vs. Texas didn’t quite top the most-watched First Four game ever – that came in 2021 between Michigan State and UCLA – it still was part of a successful start to March Madness. Tuesday and Wednesday became the two most-watched days of the First Four ever with 3.6 million and 3.9 million viewers, respectively.

Alabama State vs. St. Francis (PA) got things underway Tuesday and averaged 1.4 million to become the best Tuesday early window in First Four history. It was a thriller, too. Tied at 68-68 in the final seconds, a Hail Mary pass led to the game-winning bucket for the Hornets to send them past the Red Flash and into the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Storylines filled 2025 NCAA Tournament First Four

Alabama State’s thrilling victory set the stage for North Carolina to take on San Diego State. The Tar Heels were the talk of March Madness after getting into the field as the last team in, but they broke out in a big way to defeat the Aztecs 95-68 to make a resounding statement heading into a first-round matchup against Ole Miss.

However, it only served as the most-watched First Four game briefly. Xavier vs. Texas took the top spot Wednesday night in a game filled with storylines. The Longhorns saw a 13-point second half lead disappear as the Musketeers came all the way back to get the 86-80 victory in a game Sean Miller described as perhaps the best of his career.

With it, though, Rodney Terry’s future came even more into question. The Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman reported Texas is likely to move on from the headman after the early exit, although a conflicting report emerged on just how soon that would be.