While the SEC and Big 12 Championship games attracted the biggest numbers, Saturday’s Big East battle between Cincinnati and Pittsburgh drew an impressive audience in its own right.
Cincinnati’s close win over Pittsburgh, the first of three college football games on ABC Saturday, drew a 5.1 overnight rating — up 76% from Virginia Tech/Boston College (the ACC Championship Game) in a similar timeslot last year (2.9).
The 5.1 overnight is the 6th-highest of the season for a college football game on ABC.
Cincinnati/Pittsburgh drew the third-highest overnight of the weekend for a college football game on broadcast, behind the SEC Championship Game on CBS (11.8) and the Big 12 Championship Game on ABC (7.6), and well ahead of the ACC Championship Game on ESPN (1.9).
The second game of Saturday’s tripleheader did not fare nearly as well. Arizona/USC drew a mere 2.5 overnight rating on ABC Saturday afternoon, off 17% from a 3.0 for USC/UCLA last year and down 34% from a 3.8 for UCLA/USC in ’07.
ABC bounced back in a significant way with the Big 12 Championship Game on Saturday night. As reported earlier, Saturday’s Texas and Nebraska game drew a 7.6 overnight — up 29% from Oklahoma/Missouri last year, and the highest overnight rating of the season for a college football game on ABC.
