The play was so sloppy Monday night that CBS announcers didn't even try to sugar-coat. Clark Kellogg noted Butler's "unparalleled ineptitude" while Charles Barkley found it "sad." In a Game On! blog survey Tuesday, 55% of 6,584 respondents agreed the game was "awful and unwatchable."

But most TV viewers were willing to rubberneck. After the game peaked at 12.6% of U.S. households from 10:30-11 p.m. ET, it dropped only slightly in the last half-hour to 11.5%.

And while CBS' 11.7 overall game rating was down 18% from Duke-Butler last year, it was up 8% over North Carolina-Michigan State in 2009.

Butler at least scored in its home TV market. Indianapolis had the highest rating (49.2% of local households), followed by Hartford (28.8%) and Louisville (28.5). In the tournament overall, Louisville had the highest game ratings: There, games averaged 21.7% while, nationally, CBS averaged 6.4% CBS' 6.4% overall game average.

NCAA online: Years ago, TV broadcasters used to worry online coverage of events would cut into their TV audience. But while the new four-channel NCAA coverage on CBS/Turner predictably raised viewer totals — 7% over last year — online viewing also jumped. Streaming video totaled 13.7 million hours, up 17%. Mobile apps accounted for about 30% of streams, up from about 10% last year.