If absent some of the home run audiences of recent weeks, college football still produced more than a few hits over the weekend.
Georgia-Florida averaged a 3.0 rating and 5.95 million viewers on the SEC on CBS over the weekend, flat in ratings and up 6% in viewership from the same matchup last year (3.0, 5.62M) and the largest college football audience of the weekend.
This week was the first since “week zero” in which no college football game averaged at least seven — or even six — million viewers. It was also the first week this season in which CBS topped the charts. For the full list of college football ratings this season, see the following page.
Ranking second for the week, Ohio State-Wisconsin averaged a 2.6 and 4.87 million viewers on NBC Saturday night — easily the network’s most-watched Big Ten game this season and its third-most watched including Notre Dame coverage.
The Buckeyes’ win aired in a competitive primetime window that included Game 2 of the World Series on FOX (8.15M) and Colorado-UCLA on ABC’s Saturday Night Football. The Buffaloes’ loss ranked third for the weekend with an average of 2.6 and 4.66 million — down 8% and 16% respectively from Michigan State-Michigan in the same window last year (2.8, 5.58M).
While ratings and viewership remain far in excess of what one would have once expected for a Colorado-UCLA game, it should be noted that the Buffaloes’ drawing power remains sharply reduced from earlier in the season. Colorado’s first five games each averaged over seven million viewers. In the subsequent four weeks, Colorado either did not play on Nielsen rated television (one game on Pac-12 Network and a bye) or lost to an unheralded Pac-12 rival (Stanford and now UCLA).
Placing fourth for the week, the FOX portion of Oklahoma’s upset loss to Kansas averaged a 2.0 and 3.60 million — down (as one might expect) from Ohio State-Penn State last year (4.5, 8.27M). Due to an hour-long weather delay, which is not included in the viewership figures, the conclusion of the game was pushed to FS1 so that Utah-Oregon could be carried in its entirety. Across FOX and FS1 combined, the game averaged a 1.6 and 2.80 million.
Not only did the FOX portion of Oklahoma-Kansas comfortably outdraw Oregon-Utah, but the two games averaged virtually the same audience with the FS1 portion included. The Ducks’ blowout win drew a 1.6 and 2.81 million, down 17% from Oklahoma State-Kansas State last year (1.9, 3.38M).
Rounding out the top five, Indiana-Penn State averaged a 2.0 and 3.40 million on CBS — ranking second out of the network’s five Big Ten games this season. Ohio State-Indiana averaged a 2.3 and 4.65 million in week one.
In other action, ESPN scored a 1.4 and 2.51 million for Tennessee-Kentucky Saturday night — down 34% in ratings and 38% in viewership from the same matchup last year (2.1, 4.04M). The network fared better with South Carolina-Texas A&M earlier in the day (1.1, 1.90M) and its Oregon State-Arizona nightcap (0.8, 1.40M), both of which were up double-digits.
ABC drew a 1.3 and 2.38 million for BYU-Texas and a 1.2 and 2.09 million for FSU-Wake Forest Saturday afternoon, both off of last year’s pace (Notre Dame-Syracuse: 1.4, 2.34M; Illinois-Nebraska: 1.4, 2.49M).
Notre Dame’s 58-7 rout of Pittsburgh had a 1.1 and 1.89 million on NBC, topping only Notre Dame’s game against FCS Tennessee State (0.9, 1.56M) as the team’s least-watched game on any network this season.
In other ACC action, Clemson’s upset loss to NC State averaged a 0.36 and 642,000 on The CW — trailing only North Carolina’s upset loss to Virginia (788K) as the network’s most-watched game yet.
For more weekend sports ratings, see the weekly chart.
