For the first time ever, the NCAA women's basketball championship pulled in more viewers than the men's game ... with Kamilla Cardoso and South Carolina's win over Caitlin Clark's Iowa Hawkeyes beating out UConn vs. Purdue by 4 million!!
The numbers for Monday night's men's contest between the Huskies and Boilermakers were reportedly just released ... and while the game did better than UConn's matchup with San Diego State a year prior, it got blown out of the water by Clark going head-to-head with the undefeated Gamecocks.
The men's game drew in 14.8 million average viewers ... and Sunday's women's game earned 18.8 million, shattering the record for a women's college basketball game.
A lot of folks will chalk it up to the Caitlin Clark effect ... but it's worth noting the women's tournament featured a ton of stars all over the bracket, resulting in historic ratings throughout the tournament.
South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley even took a second to thank Clark for bringing more eyeballs to women's hoops after her squad completed the undefeated season ... which she certainly did.
Zach Edey and Purdue's effort against the defending champs did respectable numbers ... but the top game remains Michigan State vs. Indiana State in 1979 -- when two dudes named Magic Johnson and Larry Bird faced off against each other.