South Carolina’s victory over Caitlin Clark and Iowa in Sunday’s women’s NCAA championship game had a preliminary audience average of 18.7 million on ABC and ESPN. The only sporting events in the United States to draw a bigger TV audience since 2019 have been football, the World Cup and the Olympics.

The audience numbers are expected to increase when Nielsen releases its final numbers today. Nielsen says the audience peaked at 24 million.

It’s the most-watched basketball game since 2019, when the men’s NCAA title game between Virginia and Texas Tech averaged 19.6 million on CBS.

Monday night’s men’s final between UConn and Purdue was shown on TBS and TNT. It’s possible that this will be the first year the women’s title game has a bigger audience.

The 2015 Final Four game between Wisconsin and Kentucky on TBS is the only college basketball game on cable to draw over 18.7 million. That game averaged 22.63 million.

The 2022 men’s final, which matched Kansas and North Carolina on TBS, averaged 18.1 million.

Clark and Iowa have the three biggest audiences for women’s college basketball. The Hawkeyes’ victory over UConn Friday night averaged 14.2 million, and their April 1 victory over LSU in the Elite Eight, a rematch of last year’s title game, drew 12.3 million.

Clark noted the audience total on X, posting “18. 7 MILLION” with a fire emoji.

The last NBA game to draw at least 18 million was Game 6 of the 2019 Finals between the Warriors and Toronto Raptors (18.34 million).

Men’s college basketball

Calipari set to leave Kentucky for Arkansas >> Longtime Kentucky coach John Calipari was in negotiations to potentially leave and take the men’s basketball coaching job at Arkansas, multiple outlets reported.

Arkansas officials have been in discussions with Calipari about the opening, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported, citing anonymous sources. ESPN, also citing anonymous sources, reported that Calipari is finalizing a five-year deal.

The 65-year-old Hall of Fame coach has spent the last 15 seasons at Kentucky. Athletic director Mitch Barnhart recently said Calipari would return, despite calls for his firing following the Wildcats’ third consecutive early exit from the NCAA Tournament.

Kentucky was seeded third in March Madness, but fell 80-76 to No. 14 seed Oakland in the first round.

Calipari’s dismissal would’ve triggered a $33 million buyout under terms of a lifetime contract signed in 2019; there is no buyout if he leaves for another job.

Calipari has a 410-122 record at Kentucky, including the 2012 national championship and three other Final Four appearances (2011, 2014 and 2015 ). His teams have reached the tournament 12 times in all.

Overall, Calipari has an 813-260 record in 32 seasons as a college head coach.

NFL

Falcons sign ex-O’Dowd star King >> The Atlanta Falcons bolstered their cornerback depth by signing Kevin King, who started 42 games over five seasons with Green Bay.

King, 28, last played in 2021, when he started in six of 10 games with Green Bay. He missed last season with an Achilles tendon injury.

King, a former Bishop O’Dowd High star, was a second-round draft pick by Green Bay out of Washington in 2017.

College sports

NAIA approves strict transgender policy >> The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, the governing body for mostly small colleges, announced a policy that essentially bans transgender athletes from women’s sports.

The NAIA’s Council of Presidents approved the policy in a 20-0 vote, according to CBS Sports. The NAIA, which oversees some 83,000 athletes at schools across the country, is believed to be the first college sports organization to take such a step.

According to the transgender participation policy, all athletes may participate in NAIA-sponsored male sports but only athletes whose biological sex is female and have not begun hormone therapy will be allowed participate in women’s sports.

A student who has begun hormone therapy may participate in activities such as workouts, practices and team activities, but not in interscholastic competition.

Tennis

Djokovic now oldest man to be ranked No. 1 >> Novak Djokovic has surpassed another tennis record once held by Roger Federer, becoming the oldest man to be ranked No. 1 in the ATP Tour’s computerized rankings.

Djokovic is 36 — he turns 37 next month — and is now older than Federer was on his last day atop the rankings in June 2018. Monday gives Djokovic 420 total weeks at that spot, extending another mark Federer (who was there for 310 weeks) had at one time before Djokovic broke it.

Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner remained at No. 2 in Monday’s rankings, followed by Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev, all in the same places as a week ago.

There was no movement in the WTA women’s top five, either, with Iga Swiatek at No. 1, Aryna Sabalenka at No. 2 and Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina and Jessica Pegula next.