With USC’s loss to UCLA on Saturday and voters’ desire not to see a rematch between Michigan and Ohio State, its the Florida Gators who find themselves in the prime spot as the Buckeyes’ National Championship challenger.
How does this affect the ratings? Well, the Toni Fitzgerald-predicted disaster could come into play; some could be so irritated by the Wolverines being left out of the mix that they don’t watch the National Championship Game. However, the general population isn’t nearly as angry about this year’s controversy as they were about ’03 and ’04, when USC and Auburn, respectively, got screwed. A strike isn’t very likely, in other words.
The big effect on ratings might be the state of Florida. When the Gators won the National Championship in basketball this year, defeating UCLA, the game scored an 11 rating, four full percentage points lower than the previous year. When the Miami Heat won the NBA Finals this year, ABC only scored around an 8 average rating with a 10.1 for the final game. When the Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup Finals two years ago, Game 7 only scored a 4.2. Going back even further, the last time the Marlins won the World Series, the rating was around a 12 (2003).
Does that mean the National Championship game will tank? No. If USC had played Ohio State, I think the ratings would have finished at around a 16. With Florida, the ratings might hover around a 14 or 15. No big change, and very likely the top rated non-Olympic/NFL sporting event of the year.
