Kansas Jayhawks rank top-10 in college basketball TV ratings, report says
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Nielsen ranks Kansas sixth in national TV viewership through Jan. 18, 2026.
- KU holds a 15-5 record midseason, riding a four-game win streak in Big 12 play.
- Kansas vs. Duke averaged 1.87 million viewers; rankings use Nielsen multi-network data.
Kansas is the sixth-most watched men’s basketball team in the country through games of Jan. 18, according to Nielsen ratings being tracked by On3.
Michigan State this season is the country’s most watched team on TV, followed by Duke, Arkansas, North Carolina, Kentucky, KU, UCLA, Indiana, Tennessee and Wisconsin. KU is the only Big 12 team in the top-10 TV rankings at this stage of the season.
“Although star freshman Darryn Peterson has been dealing with injuries, Kansas still started out the 2025-26 season strong and is in the middle of the Big 12 race,” wrote Nick Schultz of On3. “The Jayhawks take a 15-5 record into January, including four straight victories, and their game against Duke averaged 1.87 million viewers on ESPN.
“KU is also the sixth-most watched team in college basketball through Jan. 18, according to Nielsen, as one of the top draws heading into the Big 12 portion of the schedule. The Jayhawks won four games in a row as of Jan. 26, including a resounding victory over rival Kansas State.”
The rankings include data from CBS, CW Network, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, FOX, FS1, FS2, NBC, USA, truTV and TNT, according to On3.
The Jayhawks, ranked No. 14 in this week’s AP Top 25, will play host to No. 13 BYU at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse.
