Despite the Longhorns’ poor start to the season, their rivalry game against Oklahoma topped the college football charts over the weekend.
The Oklahoma/Texas college football game drew a 3.8 overnight rating on ABC Saturday afternoon, up 65% from Ohio State/Maryland last year (2.3). There was no comparable window in 2013. Compared to previous editions of the rivalry, overnights increased 15% from last year (3.3) and a tick from 2013 (3.7).
The Longhorns’ upset win earned the highest overnight for the ‘Red River Rivalry’ since 2011 (4.5), but the fifth-lowest since at least 2000. It also scored the top college football overnight on any network over the weekend, topping a second-place 3.1 for Georgia/Tennessee on CBS.
In other action, the Miami/Florida State Saturday Night Football game drew a 2.7 overnight — up 17% from Michigan State/Nebraska last year (2.3) and down 44% from Ohio State/Northwestern in 2013 (4.8). The 2.7 is tied as the second-lowest of the season for ABC’s primetime package, matching Stanford/USC in week three and ahead of only UCLA/Arizona in week four.
Despite the soft performance, FSU’s win topped competing coverage of Arkansas/Alabama on ESPN (2.5) to rank as the night’s top game.
The middle part of ABC’s tripleheader, regional action featuring Georgia Tech/Clemson, drew a 2.2 overnight — down a tick from last year (2.3) and down 21% from 2013 (2.8), both of which were also regional windows.
(Wknd. numbers via Sports Business Daily)
