SLU Billikens A Bigger Draw Than Mizzou In Basketball?

Feb 19, 2014; Fairfax, VA, USA; Saint Louis Billikens guard Mike McCall Jr. (11), guard Jordair Jett (5), forward Jake Barnett (30), forward Dwayne Evans (21) and forward Rob Loe (51) wait after a time out against the George Mason Patriots at Patriot Center. Mandatory Credit: Rafael Suanes-USA TODAY Sports

On Friday, Dan Caesar of the St Louis Post Dispatch wrote an interesting article. The headline of the article said “SLU Tops Mizzou In St. Louis TV Ratings.” Here is an excerpt of the article:

"And, in a sign of the times, the rising St. Louis University Billikens outdrew the long-entrenched Missouri Tigers.Last Saturday, SLU had a key Atlantic 10 Conference showdown with Virginia Commonwealth. That telecast was on ESPN (which had Bob Knight as the commentator) and was seen in 3.9 percent of homes in the market with a TV, according to The Nielsen Co. Missouri, trying to keep its NCAA Tournament hopes alive, faced Tennessee later in the afternoon on ESPN2 and drew a 2.7 rating.The peak SLU rating for any quarter hour was 6.2 (for the period in which the Bills’ two-point victory concluded). Mizzou topped at 3.3, also for the final 15-minute block of its five-point win.The week before, both played at the same time — 4 p.m. SLU’s game at LaSalle was on ESPN2 and pulled a 1.9 rating. Missouri was at Mississippi, and the number for that telecast, on FSM, was at 1.7."

So are the Billikens a bigger draw than Mizzou in basketball? Yes. For now. Everyone loves a winner and the Billikens are winners. Saint Louis as won 18 straight games and they are ranked 10th in the country. Overall, Mizzou has a large following in St. Louis but the Tigers are in free fall and might even miss the tournament. That makes fans turn off the TV and want to focus on something more positive. Not to mention a sports fan in St. Louis can be both a Mizzou fan and a Billikens fan. So it’s a “Uh Duh” revelation that the Billikens are doing better in TV ratings in St. Louis than Mizzou. They are the better sports story in the Gateway city.

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