College football’s championship week delivered three of the season’s top audiences, despite declines for the SEC and Big Ten title games.
Saturday’s Georgia-LSU SEC Championship Game averaged a 5.6 rating and 10.89 million viewers on CBS, topping only two years ago — when the game aired two weeks later than usual and faced NFL competition — as the least-watched edition of the game since 2010.
The Bulldogs’ win was nonetheless the fourth most-watched game of the season. Georgia played in two of the top four, their win over Tennessee last month ranking second (13.06M).
Later in the day, the Michigan-Purdue Big Ten title game drew a 5.5 and 10.70 million on FOX — the fourth-largest audience on record for the game (12 telecasts), if down from Michigan-Iowa last year (6.2, ~11.7M).
As with the SEC title game, the Big Ten Championship delivered one of the season’s largest audiences — ranking fifth. Michigan played in two of the top five games this season, their win over Ohio State the prior weekend holding the top spot (17.14M).
Placing third for the weekend, the Kansas State-TCU Big 12 Championship averaged a 5.3 and 9.41 million on ABC — trailing only Oklahoma-Texas four years ago (10.16M) as the most-watched edition of the game since it returned from hiatus in 2017. Ratings and viewership increased from Baylor-Oklahoma State last year (4.8, ~8M).
The Wildcats’ overtime win ranks eighth for the season. The top ten games of the season are below.
Largest college football audiences this season
In other championship week action, the Pac-12 Championship ranked fourth for the weekend, with additional details available in the following link.
The ACC Championship (Clemson-North Carolina) rounded out the top five with a 1.9 and 3.47 million, up double-digits from last year (Pittsburgh-Wake Forest: 1.5, ~2.7M).
Outside of the power five, the Tulane-UCF AAC Championship scored a 1.5 and 2.70 million on ABC — down double-digits from playoff-bound Cincinnati against Houston last year (2.0, ~3.4M). The Fresno State-Boise State Mountain West Championship on FOX doubled last year (Utah State-San Diego State: 0.52, ~816K). The MAC Championship (Toledo-Ohio) fell double-digits to a 0.43 and 721,000 on ESPN.
Finally, the Sun Belt Championship on ESPN (Coastal Carolina-Troy: 0.19, 332K) not only fell double-digits from last year (Appalachian State-Louisiana: 0.26, ~440K) but was outdrawn head-to-head by the SWAC Championship on ESPN2 (Southern-Jackson State: 0.23, 391K).
The full list of college football ratings this season can be seen on the following page.
