Jonathan Lintner

@JonathanLintner

The University of Louisville's absence from this year's NCAA tournament may have turned a few viewers away from the Cardinals' hometown market, but a city known for its college basketball following has still so far turned in the postseason's top ratings.

Through two weekends of the NCAA tournament, Louisville registered an average 16.8 for games across CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV.

That ranks ahead of Kansas City (14.4) and Indianapolis (13.1) for highest percentage of TVs in given markets tuned in to college hoops. There's a four-way tie for fourth with other traditional basketball hotbeds Raleigh-Durham, Cincinnati and Dayton all at 11.9 heading into this weekend's Final Four.

Louisville, also ESPN's top market for regular-season games now 14 years running, notched a 22.3 through last year's opening weekend when U of L was in contention. The market also contributed to the highest-rated college basketball game on cable, the 2015 Final Four upset of then-unbeaten Kentucky by Wisconsin that reached a 33.1 in Louisville.

No. 2 seeds Villanova and Oklahoma tip off at 6:09 p.m. Saturday to open the Final Four in Houston. No. 1 North Carolina then plays ACC rival Syracuse, a 10 seed, in the later game. Both will air on TBS.