With both teams ranked in the top three and controversy swirling around one of them, the latest chapter of the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry trailed only their “Game of the Century” in 2006.
Ohio State-Michigan averaged a 9.0 rating and 19.07 million viewers on FOX “Big Noon Saturday” over the weekend, marking the largest audience for the rivalry since their #1 vs. #2 meeting in 2006 (21.04M) and the second-largest since 1978 (19.24M). The 9.0 rating is also the highest for the rivalry since their #2 vs. #3 matchup in 2016 (9.4) and the third-highest behind that year and 2006 (13.0). (That excludes a 1995 game that aired regionally on ABC and drew a 10.5 rating.)
The Wolverines’ win, which peaked with 22.90 million from 3:30-3:45 PM ET, delivered the largest regular season college football audience overall in 12 years — since a #1 vs. #2 matchup of LSU and Alabama in 2011 (20.01M). Keep in mind Nielsen did not begin including out-of-home viewing in its final nationals until 2020.
As goes without saying, Ohio State-Michigan delivered easily the largest audience of the college football season. For the holiday weekend, it ranked fifth among sportscasts behind only the three NFL Thanksgiving Day games and Sunday’s NFL national window on CBS (mostly Bills-Eagles: 30.90M).
Compared to last year’s matchup of the teams, ratings and viewership increased 11% from an 8.05 and 17.14 million.
Placing a distant second for the week, the Alabama-Auburn Iron Bowl scored a 4.3 and 9.09 million on CBS — up 37% in ratings and 45% in viewership from last year (3.2, 6.27M). Despite the classic finish, the Tide’s win ranks as the third-lowest for the Iron Bowl in the past decade.
The Iron Bowl was the eighth game this season to average at least nine million viewers, double last year (four) and the highest single-season total in at least a decade.
Fueled by a lead-in from Ohio State-Michigan, the Washington-Washington State Apple Cup ranked third for the week with a 2.8 and 5.85 million — the largest audience for that rivalry in more than a decade. Ratings and viewership more-than-doubled last year’s Apple Cup, which aired on ESPN in a late night timeslot (1.2, 2.38M). Compared to the same FOX window last year, ratings increased 31% and viewership 35% from Iowa State-TCU (2.1, 4.34M).
Rounding out the top five were a pair of competing primetime rivalry games. Georgia-Georgia Tech averaged a 2.6 and 5.33 million on ABC, the largest audience for that rivalry in a decade — though still down from Notre Dame-USC in the same window last year (3.5, 6.68M). The concurrent Florida State-Florida game on ESPN drew a 2.5 and 5.07 million, down from last year’s Friday night matchup on ABC (3.4, 6.71M) but up from the same Saturday night window last year (Texas A&M-LSU: 1.95, 3.92M).
Beyond the top five, a number of Black Friday rivalry games hit highs, as noted previously. Iowa-Nebraska made its CBS debut with its largest audience since 2015, Missouri-Arkansas delivered its largest audience since 2014, and the Oregon-Oregon State “Civil War” was the most-watched since 2010. The Mississippi-Mississippi State “Egg Bowl” was also the most-watched in six years on Thanksgiving night.
For more Thanksgiving weekend college football numbers, see the usual weekly chart.
