• by Wayne Friedman , April 6, 2010

The dramatic -- and almost storybook -- conclusion of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament featuring powerhouse Duke and Cinderella-team Butler, pulled in its best viewership in five years, according to Nielsen preliminary results.

The men's championship game, which heavily favored Duke, won 61-59 against small-school Butler, grabbed an average of 20.7 million viewers. In 2005, North Carolina vs. Illinois pulled in an average of 23.9 million viewers, which was the best result since 2002's final featuring Maryland vs. Indiana, which pulled in 23.7 million.

While CBS won the night among 18-49 viewers, with a 5.5/12, it wasn't a landslide: ABC had a respectable 4.4/12 tally.

ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" offered its own big number: 20.9 million viewers -- a bit more than the big basketball game, according to preliminary results. "Stars" only went head-to-head against basketball during its last half hour of a two-hour 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday edition.

Still, the NCAA game posted better 18-49 numbers -- 7.1/19, versus "Stars" with 5.0/14.

Both ABC's "Stars" and its 10 p.m. show "Castle" were down about half a rating point for the night. "Stars" had a 5.6/16 the week before; "Castle" was at a 3.5/10 for the week before and a 3.0/8 on Monday. Overall, ABC said it had its strongest performance ever against the NCAA game.

Fox was next in line to CBS and ABC. Its "24" slipped to a 2.3/6 from a 2.6/7 for a two-hour edition of the show. NBC's best results of the night came with its 8 p.m. "Chuck," which came in at a 2.1/6 -- exactly the same results as the week before.

CBS even did well earlier in the evening -- a repeat of "Big Bang Theory" at 8 p.m. earned a solid 3.5/11, while a new episode of "Rules of Engagement" built on "Theory" with a 3.6/10. CBS' pre-NCAA show "Prelude to a Championship" was the third-best-rated 18-49 show of the night, earning a 4.6/12.

CW's "Gossip Girl" at 9 p.m. continued to earn big numbers for its core women 18-34 viewers: a hefty 2.4 rating. But CW's earlier young-skewing drama "Life Unexpected" produced less expectations -- just a 1.3 rating among women 18-34.