Nearly 50 years later, Michigan State basketball still has the most-watched game of all time

Michigan State basketball has played in some incredible games over the years.

The Spartans have been lucky enough to be included in the annual Champions Classic because, well, Michigan State helped found the event and it's really the start of every college basketball season. There have also been carrier ship games, elite NCAA Tournament battles, Battle 4 Atlantis matchups, and also the Maui Invitational, among many others.

To say Michigan State has had some must-see games over the years would be a massive understatement, but none of those even cracked the top 12 for most-watched games ever.

But a different Michigan State hoops game that wasn't mentioned above topped the list.

That's right, nearly 50 years later, Michigan State still has the No. 1 most-watched college basketball game of all time. What was it? Obviously the matchup between Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.

Michigan State vs. Indiana State is still the No. 1 most-watched game in the history of college basketball with 35.11 million viewers. It tops the 1992 national title bwteen Michigan and Duke and the 1993 title game between the Wolverines and North Carolina.

There have been no games since 2000 to make the list and the most recent was the 1994 National Championship game between Duke and Arkansas.

Is it weird to see no games on the list since the turn of the century? Yes and no. You'd think with more people owning multiple TVs that a ton of households would be tuning into national title games, but back before 2000, there were less channel options so it almost wasn't an option to not tune in if you were watching TV.

Let's hope Michigan State's next title appearance will make this list (I know every Michigan State fan in the world will be tuning in).