A barnburner between Ohio State and TCU led the week three college football ratings, hitting an early season-high in the metered markets.
Saturday’s Ohio State-TCU college football game delivered a 4.9 overnight rating on ABC, up 48% from last year (Clemson-Louisville: 3.3) and up 133% from 2016 (Stanford-USC: 2.1).
The 4.9 is the highest of the young season on any network, surpassing the previous mark of 4.5 for Michigan-Notre Dame on NBC in week one.
The Buckeyes’ win, which peaked at a 5.9 from 10:45-11 PM ET, delivered ABC’s top college football overnight in more than a year — since Ohio State against another Big 12 team, Oklahoma, last September (5.6).
Ranking second for the weekend, CBS scored a 3.7 for LSU’s upset of Auburn — up 19% from last year (Tennessee-Florida: 3.1) but down 31% from 2016, when Alabama narrowly avoided an upset against Mississippi (5.4).
This year’s Alabama-Mississippi game — a 62-7 demolition — had a 2.2 overnight on ESPN, up 57% from the same window last year (LSU-Mississippi State: 1.4). Compared to the teams’ similarly lopsided meeting last year, which took place in week five, overnights increased 38% from a 1.6.
It ranked third in primetime behind Ohio State-TCU on ABC and USC-Texas on FOX, the latter of which pulled a 2.3 — down 34% from the same matchup last year (3.5) and down 39% from Ohio State-Oklahoma in 2016 (3.8).
Rounding out the weekend action, ABC scored a 2.6 overnight for Oklahoma-Iowa State (+4%) and a 2.1 for BYU’s upset of Wisconsin (+24%). NBC pulled a 1.7 for Vanderbilt-Notre Dame. ESPN scored a 1.3 for Florida State’s blowout loss to Syracuse (+18%) and a 1.2 for Washington-Utan (+50%).
