Flirting with an upset at the hands of Northern Illinois, Ohio State gave ABC a solid overnight rating.
Regional college football action featuring Northern Illinois/Ohio State in 78% of markets drew a 3.6 overnight rating on ABC Saturday afternoon, up 90% from Arkansas/Texas Tech last year (1.9) and up 64% from Tennessee/Oregon in 2013 (2.2).
The telecast, which also included Nebraska/Miami in 22% of markets, scored college football’s second-highest overnight of the weekend. ESPN’s Mississippi/Alabama game took the top spot with a 4.6. ESPN/ABC has taken first and second place in each week of the season.
Later in the night, USC/Stanford drew a 2.7 overnight on ABC’s Saturday Night Football — up 23% from Tennessee/Oklahoma last year (2.2) but down 13% from Notre Dame/Purdue in 2013 (3.1).
(Wknd. numbers from ESPN; regional split from Twitter)
