A Top 5 thriller featuring two Heisman contenders lifted ABC Saturday night.
Louisville/Clemson scored a 6.0 overnight rating on the latest edition of ABC’s Saturday Night Football, up 25% from Notre Dame/Clemson last year (4.8), up 114% from Notre Dame/Syracuse in 2014 (2.8), and the second-highest college football overnight of the season.
The Tigers’ win trails only Notre Dame/Texas on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend (7.0).
Louisville was the top market for Saturday’s game with a 24.9 rating, down 13% from the Cardinals’ previous ACC tilt, a Noon ET rout of Florida State two weeks earlier (28.6). Keep in mind the market’s loyalties were likely divided Saturday night; Kentucky played Alabama on ESPN2 at virtually the same time.
Earlier Saturday, Wisconsin/Michigan scored a 4.5 overnight — even with last year and up 13% from 2014 (4.0), both of which were regional windows. Last year’s telecast featured Ohio State’s near-upset at the hands of Indiana. The 4.5 was the second-highest of the weekend.
Rounding out ABC’s tripleheader, Texas/Oklahoma State scored a 2.7 overnight (+35%). The Cowboys’ win scored the third-highest overnight of the weekend, topping the a third Top 10 matchup — Stanford/Washington on Friday night (2.4).
(Wknd. numbers from ESPN)
