UConn-USC Dream Matchup Diminished by JuJu Watkins Injury

When the NCAA women’s tournament bracket was revealed two weeks ago, perhaps the most noteworthy announcement was that USC and UConn were on the same side of the bracket. Before the start of March Madness, the two schools were top-four betting favorites to win it all and were the biggest viewership draws in the regular season on the backs of their respective stars: JuJu Watkins and Paige Bueckers.

As expected, USC and UConn will face off in the Elite Eight on Monday night, but the game will not involve Watkins, who was ruled out for the rest of the tournament after tearing her ACL in the Trojans’ second-round game against Mississippi State. 

Her absence is a blow to rightsholder ESPN, as a duel between the two, even as early into the tournament as the Elite Eight, was the closest replica to last year’s Caitlin Clark Effect that the network could hope for. The December regular-season game between USC and UConn—a two-point win for the Trojans—drew 2.2 million viewers on Fox, the most-watched regular-season matchup.

Last year’s regular-season viewership high was 3.4 million when Clark set the all-time NCAA Division I scoring record. The Elite Eight game between the Clark-led Iowa and Angel Reese and LSU drew 12.3 million viewers, which, at the time, was the most-watched college basketball game on record.

Keeping it Competitive

A close game tends to drive up viewership, but with Watkins out, betting markets don’t think this one will be tight, as the Huskies are 13.5-point favorites.

The line isn’t exactly a slight against the Trojans, who showed Saturday in a win against Kansas State that they are still a formidable squad despite just seven points from Kiki Iriafen, a projected top-five pick in the 2025 WNBA draft who has become the team’s new no. 1 option. UConn has just been the most impressive team of the tournament so far. 

The Huskies have won their first three games by an average of 41 points and are coming off a 23-point win over No. 3 Oklahoma. Bueckers dropped 40 points in that Sweet 16 game, her first since ESPN’s Rebecca Lobo reported that she will enter the 2025 WNBA draft, where she’s expected to be picked first overall.

Fortunately for ESPN, the blowouts haven’t stopped Bueckers and UConn from drawing eyeballs. The Huskies were involved in the most-watched games in each of the first two rounds.