Preliminary television ratings from the 2005 Division I Men's Basketball Championship indicate that the American sports public tuned in at a rate not seen since 1998.

An estimated 45.6 million viewers watched all or part of the April 4 championship game between the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and the University of Illinois, Champaign (see game story, page 11). That represents a 22 percent increase over the 37.5 million viewers who watched all or part of the 2004 championship game between the University of Connecticut and Georgia Institute of Technology.

This year's game drew a 15.0 rating, a 36 percent increase over the 11.0 drawn for the 2004 final. It helped that the 2005 title game, which North Carolina won, 75-70, came down to the final seconds of play. Connecticut's 82-73 victory in 2004 wasn't nearly as dramatic, since the Huskies held a sizeable lead throughout the game.

The 2005 ratings show the largest amount of viewers to watch all or part of the final game since 48 million tuned in for the 1998 title game between the University of Kentucky and the University of Utah.

This year's 15.0 rating is the same as the 2002 final between the University of Maryland, College Park, and Indiana University, Bloomington. Those games closely trail the 15.6 rating of the 2001 final between Duke University and the University of Arizona.

The rating for the Final Four semifinal match-ups featuring Illinois against the University of Louisville and North Carolina against Michigan State University was 10.5, which marked a 12 percent increase over the 2004 national semifinals.

This is the highest-rated average for a Final Four since the 1998 doubleheader when North Carolina played Utah and Kentucky battled Stanford University.

Overall, the men's tournament was a big hit among viewers for the entire three-week run. An estimated audience of 141.7 million viewers watched all or part of the 2005 tournament. That represents the most viewers since 153.7 million watched the 1998 tournament.

The 6.9 overall rating for the tournament is an 11-percent increase over 2004. This year's rating is the highest since 1998 when CBS drew a 7.3 rating.

On average, 10.2 million viewers watched each broadcast of this year's tournament games. That marks the highest number of viewers per broadcast since 11.2 million watched the 1994 tournament.

The 2005 tournament was filled with upsets in the early rounds, the most high-profile of which occurred on March 18 when Bucknell University shocked the University of Kansas, 64-63, and the University of Vermont ousted Syracuse University, 60-57, in overtime. Kansas was the No. 3 seed in the Syracuse Regional, while the Big East Conference tournament champion Orange were the No. 4 seed in the Austin Regional.

The second weekend was highlighted by three regional finals going into overtime. Louisville rallied from a 20-point first-half deficit to defeat West Virginia University, 93-85, and Illinois made a furious comeback from 15 points down with four minutes remaining in regulation and eventually beat Arizona, 90-89.

Both games were played March 26. On the next day, North Carolina edged the University of Wisconsin, Madison, 88-82, and Michigan State survived a three-point basket at the buzzer of regulation before downing Kentucky, 94-88, in double overtime.