2012-13 College Football Bowl TV Ratings: BCS, SEC, Top the Charts

The Bowl Championship Series and games involving the Southeastern Conference earned the largest audiences during the 2012-13 bowl season.

As is always the case, the BCS National Championship Game earned the top audience of the bowl season [see chart]. Alabama’s blowout win over Notre Dame drew a 15.1 U.S. rating and 26.4 million viewers on ESPN, the largest audience for any bowl game in two years.

The Stanford/Wisconsin Rose Bowl (9.4, 17.0M) and Oregon/Kansas State Fiesta Bowl (7.4, 12.3M) ranked second and third, respectively.

Rounding out the top five were two non-BCS bowls. The Texas A&M/Oklahoma Cotton Bowl ranked fourth with a 7.2 rating and 11.9 million viewers on FOX, while the Georgia/Nebraska Capital One Bowl scored a 6.6 and 11.0 million on ABC.

Of the top ten bowl games this season, nine were either BCS bowls or games that involved an SEC team.

The Oklahoma State/Purdue Heart of Dallas Bowl was the lowest rated and least-viewed game of the bowl season, earning a 0.5 U.S. rating and 943,000 viewers on ESPNU. In a close second was the Arizona State/Navy Fight Hunger Bowl, with a 0.7 and 1.1 million on ESPN2.

2012-13 College Football Bowl TV Ratings
With comparisons to the past three seasons
* UPDATE 1/11: Ratings/viewership for the December 31 Sun Bowl on CBS added to chart.

Date	Bowl	Net	2012-13	2011-12	2010-11	2009-10
Mon., 1/7/13	BCS Nat’l Champ. Gm.: Alabama/Notre Dame	ESPN	15.1 (26.4M)	14.0 (24.2M)	15.3 (27.3M)	17.2 (30.8M)
Tue., 1/1/13	Rose: Stanford/Wisconsin	ESPN	9.4 (17.0M)	10.2 (17.6M)	11.3 (20.6M)	13.2 (24.0M)
Thu., 1/3/13	Fiesta: Oregon/Kansas State	ESPN	7.4 (12.3M)	8.4 (13.7M)	6.2 (10.8M)	8.2 (13.8M)
Fri., 1/4/13	Cotton: Texas A&M/Oklahoma	FOX	7.2 (11.9M)	5.0 (8.4M)	5.8 (10.0M)	4.5 (7.3M)
Tue., 1/1/13	Capital One: Georgia/Nebraska	ABC	6.6 (11.0M)	2.9 (4.5M)	3.7 (6.0M)	6.8 (11.6M)
Wed., 1/2/13	Sugar: Louisville/Florida	ESPN	6.2 (10.1M)	6.1 (9.7M)	8.2 (13.6M)	8.5 (15.5M)
Tue., 1/1/13	Orange: FSU/Northern Illinois	ESPN	6.1 (10.6M)	4.5 (7.2M)	6.7 (10.7M)	6.8 (10.9M)
Mon., 12/31/12	Peach: Clemson/LSU	ESPN	4.8 (8.6M)	3.6 (6.2M)	4.3 (7.5M)	4.2 (7.5M)
Tue., 1/1/13	Outback: South Carolina/Michigan	ESPN	4.3 (7.6M)	5.1 (8.2M)	7.1 (12.4M)	3.5 (5.7M)
Sat., 12/29/12	Alamo: Texas/Oregon State	ESPN	4.1 (6.7M)	4.4 (6.9M)	2.8 (4.6M)	4.8 (7.8M)
Sat., 12/29/12	Pinstripe: Syracuse/West Virginia	ESPN	3.4 (5.1M)	2.1 (3.2M)	2.3 (3.5M)	no game
Fri., 12/28/12	Texas: Texas Tech/Minnesota	ESPN	2.9 (4.6M)	2.7 (3.9M)	2.7 (4.2M)	2.1 (3.2M)
Sat., 12/22/12	Las Vegas: Boise State/Washington	ESPN	2.9 (4.4M)	2.1 (3.1M)	3.3 (5.4M)	2.2 (3.5M)
Sat., 12/29/12	Buffalo Wild Wings: Michigan State/TCU	ESPN	2.7 (4.4M)	3.0 (4.8M)	2.2 (3.6M)	0.4 (673K)
Mon., 12/31/12	Sun: Georgia Tech/USC	CBS	2.7 (4.0M)	2.7 (4.1M)	3.0 (4.6M)	3.3 (5.0M)
Thu., 12/27/12	Belk: Cincinnati/Duke	ESPN	2.6 (3.9M)	2.2 (3.5M)	2.0 (2.9M)	3.9 (6.1M)
Fri., 12/28/12	Russell Athletic: Virginia Tech/Rutgers	ESPN	2.5 (3.9M)	3.3 (5.2M)	2.1 (3.3M)	3.9 (6.2M)
Sat., 12/29/12	Armed Forces: Rice/Air Force	ESPN	2.3 (3.3M)	1.4 (2.0M)	1.3 (1.9M)	1.6 (2.2M)
Thu., 12/27/12	Holiday: Baylor/UCLA	ESPN	2.0 (2.9M)	2.7 (4.3M)	3.5 (5.7M)	3.7 (6.1M)
Sat., 12/15/12	Famous Idaho Potato: Utah State/Toledo	ESPN	1.9 (2.8M)	1.7 (2.4M)	1.8 (2.9M)	2.1 (3.0M)
Sat., 1/5/13	BBVA Compass: Mississippi/Pittsburgh	ESPN	1.9 (2.7M)	1.5 (2.0M)	2.2 (3.3M)	1.6 (2.4M)
Wed., 12/26/12	Little Ceasars: C. Michigan/W. Kentucky	ESPN	1.8 (2.7M)	1.7 (2.5M)	1.4 (2.2M)	2.6 (3.8M)
Sat., 12/22/12	New Orleans: UL-Lafayette/ECU	ESPN	1.8 (2.6M)	1.6 (2.3M)	1.3 (2.1M)	0.7 (993K)
Sat., 12/15/12	New Mexico: Arizona/Nevada	ESPN	1.8 (2.6M)	1.5 (2.2M)	1.8 (2.8M)	2.4 (3.6M)
Mon., 12/31/12	Liberty: Tulsa/Iowa State	ESPN	1.7 (2.7M)	1.9 (3.0M)	3.0 (4.8M)	3.8 (6.4M)
Thu., 12/20/12	Poinsettia: BYU/San Diego State	ESPN	1.5 (2.2M)	2.1 (3.1M)	2.3 (3.6M)	2.4 (3.7M)
Mon., 12/24/12	Hawaii: SMU/Fresno State	ESPN	1.4 (2.4M)	1.4 (2.5M)	2.1 (3.7M)	1.7 (2.9M)
Tue., 1/1/13	Gator: Northwestern/Miss. St.	ESPN2	1.4 (2.2M)	1.9 (2.9M)	1.7 (2.8M)	3.9 (6.4M)
Mon., 12/31/12	Music City: Vanderbilt/N.C. State	ESPN	1.4 (2.0M)	2.7 (4.2M)	4.2 (7.1M)	1.7 (2.8M)
Sun., 1/6/13	GoDaddy.com: Arkansas St./Kent St.	ESPN	1.3 (1.9M)	1.2 (1.8M)	1.7 (2.6M)	2.4 (3.5M)
Thu., 12/27/12	Military: SJSU/Bowling Green	ESPN	1.3 (1.9M)	1.5 (2.3M)	1.5 (2.1M)	1.9 (2.8M)
Fri., 12/21/12	St. Petersburg: UCF/Ball State	ESPN	1.3 (1.9M)	1.5 (2.2M)	2.0 (3.0M)	1.6 (2.5M)
Fri., 12/28/12	Independence: Ohio/UL-Monroe	ESPN	1.3 (1.7M)	1.5 (2.5M)	1.4 (2.2M)	2.0 (3.3M)
Sat., 12/29/12	Fight Hunger: Arizona State/Navy	ESPN2	0.7 (1.1M)	2.3 (3.5M)	1.6 (2.5M)	4.6 (7.6M)
Tue., 1/1/13	Heart of Dallas: Oklahoma St./Purdue	ESPNU	0.5 (943K)	N/A	N/A	no game