The Alamo Bowl earned strong numbers on ESPN Saturday, but could not match last year.
The Texas/Oregon State Alamo Bowl earned 6.7 million viewers on ESPN Saturday night, down 2% from Baylor/Washington last year (6.9M), but up 46% from Oklahoma State/Arizona in 2010 (4.6M).
Despite the lower numbers, the Alamo Bowl ranks as the third-most viewed non-BCS bowl on ESPN this season, trailing only the Outback Bowl on New Year’s Day (7.6M) and the Peach Bowl on New Year’s Eve (8.6M).
The Syracuse/West Virginia Pinstripe Bowl earlier in the day drew 5.1 million viewers, the largest audience in the three-year history of the game. Saturday’s’ audience marked a 60% increase over Rutgers/Iowa State last year (3.2M), and a 49% rise from Syracuse/Kansas State in 2010 (3.5M).
Also Saturday, the TCU/Michigan State Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl drew 4.4 million viewers — down 8% from Oklahoma/Iowa last year (4.8M), and up 24% from Iowa/Missouri in 2010 (3.6M).
(Sat. numbers from TV By the Numbers)
