Caitlin Clark’s revenge on LSU sets sports world and social media on fire, shatters viewership numbers

Monday night was a monumental day in sports; most notably for women and women’s basketball as Iowa’s Caitlin Clark set the world and social media on fire with an electric performance against the defending national champion LSU Tigers.

Clark’s Steph Curry-like shooting led Iowa over LSU in an Elite 8 rematch of last year’s women’s college basketball national championship.

She finished with 41 points, 7 rebounds, and 12 assists.

Watch: Caitlin Clark’s Legendary Performance

𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗥𝗶𝗱𝗶𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗼𝘂𝘀 🤯

41 PTS
12 AST
9 3FG
7 REB@CaitlinClark22 x #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/BYpE6di6zG

— Iowa Women's Basketball (@IowaWBB) April 2, 2024

Monday night’s game averaged 12.3 million viewers, which made it the most watched women’s college basketball game ever. The matchup destroyed the previous record set last year for Iowa and LSU, which brought in 9.9 million viewers to ABC and ESPN2.

It doesn’t just stop there. The Iowa vs LSU game had more viewers than every ESPN college basketball game ever, every NBA game last season except one, and every college football regular season game last season except one.

What makes this even more wild is that you have to go back to 2019 to find an NBA Finals with a higher average rating along with the World Series that year that featured a similar average rating.

Other Viewership Numbers for Context – Iowa vs LSU beat the following: 

• 10.4 million viewers that CBS drew for the Purdue-Tennessee men’s Elite 8 game on Sunday afternoon
• 9.5 million viewers for the Golden Globes on CBS in January
• 12.1 million viewers for the final round of the Masters last year on CBS
• Four of five games from the NBA Finals on ABC in 2023 (Nuggets-Heat)
• Every game of the 2023 World Series on Fox (Rangers-D-backs)

This performance more than cemented Caitlin Clark’s stranglehold over the title of college basketball’s biggest star. I can’t remember the last time we’ve seen an individual collectively bring the sports world together like this in admiration.

caitlin clark pic.twitter.com/80cAfqVGhk

— Annie Agar (@AnnieAgar) April 2, 2024

Find something that gives you as much joy as @stoolpresidente and @BarstoolTrent watching Caitlin Clark hit 3’s pic.twitter.com/icOVLwiTW5

— Viva La Stool (@VivaLaStool) April 1, 2024

Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis) Mocks Angel Reese

Ted Lasso out here taking LSU’s soul! pic.twitter.com/wghcD7DotV

— OutKick (@Outkick) April 2, 2024

It’s worth noting that Dave Portnoy was in attendance for this game due to all the heat he received for his take on how Angel Reese conducted herself after LSU beat Iowa in the National Championship. He’s also a fan of Caitlin Clark; and who isn’t at this point?

The LSU star who’s often animated and passionate, like Clark, hawked down Caitlin after the game to rub the loss in her face essentially. Say whatever you want, I’m not here for the politics, but you just knew Clark was here to get her revenge on Reese and LSU. To make matters worse, Reese placed a crown on the LSU bench during warm ups.

I understand they are the reigning National Champs, but seems like a bold move to poke the bear even more before the game. I have to wonder what happened to the crown after Clark rained three’s all over LSU?

I’m sure I’ve already upset many people here, and like I said, I’m not here to talk politics. I’m here to talk about the game that I love. This was incredibly refreshing, as I am annoyed with the lack of competitiveness/rivalries in the NBA. We should all be thanking Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese for creating this special moment in sports history.