A nailbiter involving Ohio State delivered the highest college football overnight rating of week twelve.
Saturday’s Ohio State-Maryland college football game scored a 4.1 overnight rating on ABC, up 58% from last year (UVA-Miami: 2.7), up 215% from 2016 (Wisconsin-Purdue: 1.3), and the highest college football overnight of the weekend.
The Buckeyes’ overtime win, which peaked at a 6.3 from 3:30-3:45 PM ET, delivered the second-highest overnight of a Noon ET game this season. Texas-Oklahoma on FOX last month holds the top spot. (4.3).
Later in the day, ABC scored a 2.6 for West Virginia-Oklahoma State — up 18% from last year (Illinois-Ohio State: 2.2) and up 44% from regional action in 2016 (1.8).
The Cowboys’ upset was the top game in the mid-afternoon window. On NBC, the concurrent Syracuse-Notre Dame game had a 1.95 overnight — down 15% from the network’s finale last season (Navy-ND: 2.3) but up 19% from the 2016 finale (Virginia Tech-ND: 1.6).
Figures for the SEC on CBS and college football on FOX were not immediately available.
Shifting to primetime, Cincinnati-UCF delivered a 2.3 on ABC’s Saturday Night Football — down 21% from last year (UCLA-USC: 2.9) and down 8% from 2016 (Oklahoma-West Virginia: 2.5).
Despite the declines, it was the top primetime game of the weekend. In the same window, ESPN drew a 1.5 for Duke-Clemson (-6%).
[Numbers from ESPN PR, NBC Sports]
