One of the oldest SEC rivalries and newest Big Ten matchups topped the college football charts in week nine of the season.
Last Saturday’s Florida-Georgia college football game averaged a 3.2 rating and 7.05 million viewers on ABC, down from last year’s game between the same teams, which took place during the Disney-YouTube TV blackout (3.7, 7.80M). That game took place on the same weekend last year, but one week later in the season (week ten). Compared to last year’s equivalent week nine window, ratings and viewership declined even further from a 3.9 and 7.84 million for Alabama-South Carolina.
Georgia’s win, which peaked with 8.6 million viewers, still delivered the largest Nielsen-measured audience of week nine.
In a rarity, top honors for week nine were too close to call. NBC averaged 7.1 million for Ohio State-USC in primetime, combining a Nielsen-measured linear audience (3.1 rating, 6.61M viewers) and streaming viewership tracked by Adobe Analytics — the largest audience of the season for NBC’s “Big Ten Saturday Night” package.
It was not immediately clear whether the Trojans’ win ranks ahead or behind Florida-Georgia, but the game dominated its primetime window — comfortably topping Miami-North Carolina on ABC.
The Big Ten took two of the top three audiences last weekend, as Indiana’s overtime win over Minnesota averaged a 2.4 and 4.93 million on CBS, up sharply from Minnesota-Iowa a year ago (1.60M).
ABC rounded out the top five with a 2.3 and 4.64 million for the aforementioned Miami-North Carolina and a 2.0 and 3.99 million for Notre Dame-Navy, both down sharply from last year’s equivalent windows (Texas A&M-LSU: 3.5, 6.76M; Mississippi-Oklahoma State: 3.3, 6.55M). Again, those year-ago games took place during the Disney-YouTube TV blackout, and the primetime game aired opposite the World Series.
Even with the declines, it is worth noting that ABC took up three of the top five spots despite carrying only one SEC game — the first such occurrence since it became the broadcast TV home of the conference in 2024. There were only two SEC games on Nielsen-rated television last weekend, with the other being Mississippi State-Texas on ESPN in primetime at a 0.9 and 2.09 million.
ABC even won the Noon ET window with Notre Dame-Navy, topping Wisconsin-Iowa on FOX “Big Noon Saturday” at a 1.7 and 3.32 million.
