First, the results of last week’s predictions:
- ACC Championship Game on ABC, Virginia Tech/Boston College. Prediction: 3.5. Final rating: 4.1. Virginia Tech’s win over Boston College drew a solid rating last Saturday; the 4.1 for the ACC title game is a 14% jump over the 3.6 for Georgia Tech/Wake Forest last year.
- College football on ABC, USC/UCLA. Prediction: 4.4. Final rating: 3.2. A huge drop in ratings for USC/UCLA; the 3.2 rating for the annual rivalry game marks a 56% drop from the 7.3 rating for the same match-up in the same timeslot last year.
- Big 12 Championship Game on ABC, Missouri/Oklahoma. Prediction: 6.8. Final rating: 6.6. A big audience tuned in to watch Missouri’s national title hopes get crushed; the 6.6 for the Big 12 title game marks a 57% increase over the 4.2 for Nebraska/Oklahoma in ’06.
- SEC Championship Game on CBS, Tennessee/LSU. Prediction: 3.8. Final rating: 5.9. The SEC Championship Game drew its best rating since 2001. The 5.9 rating for LSU’s victory over Tennessee marks a 31% increase over the 4.5 rating for Arkansas/Florida last year.
- College football on CBS, Army/Navy. Prediction: 1.9. Final rating: 2.2. One of college football’s most storied rivalry games could not compete in the ratings with the other big games of the day. The 2.2 rating for Army/Navy is down 4% from last year.
- BCS Selection Show on FOX, 8 PM Saturday. Prediction: 7.0. Final rating: 7.1. The 7.1 for the BCS Selection Show on FOX is off 15% from ’06; some of that drop can be attributed to an NFL lead-in that was also down from last year.
- NFL on FOX, Giants/Bears. Prediction: 13.9. Final rating: 13.8. Giants/Bears was no Giants/Cowboys for FOX on Sunday; the 13.8 rating for the battle of two of the top three television markets in the country marks a 22% drop from the stellar 17.8 rating for Giants/Cowboys in ’06.
- Sunday Night Football on NBC, Steelers/Bengals. Prediction: 8.8. Final rating: 9.1. Not surprisingly, viewers were not too thrilled with a Pittsburgh/Cincinnati Sunday night match-up. The 9.1 for Steelers/Bengals marks a 9% drop from last year.
Ratings for college football games over Thanksgiving weekend are currently unavailable.
This week’s predictions:
- NFL on CBS, Steelers/Patriots, 4 PM Sunday — Two weeks ago, the Patriots gave NBC their highest Sunday Night Football rating ever. Last week, the Patriots gave ESPN the highest rated, most watched event in cable history. While it will be hard for Steelers/Patriots to supplant Colts/Patriots as the highest rated NFL game this season, expect CBS to draw a marquee rating for a marquee game. Prediction: 17.2.
- Heisman Trophy Presentation on ESPN, 8 PM Saturday — Are Tim Tebow, Darren McFadden, Chase Daniel and Colt Brennan big enough names to give ESPN a big rating on Saturday night? Out of the four finalists, only Tebow plays for one of the marquee college football programs, which may factor into the numbers tonight. Prediction: 2.0.
- College basketball on CBS, Michigan/Duke, 2 PM Saturday — With very little in the way of competition, one would expect the season debut of college basketball on CBS to draw a decent rating. Still, March is a long time from now, and December games do not typically draw big numbers. Prediction: 1.7.
- College basketball on CBS, Kentucky/Indiana, 4 PM Saturday — In an earlier timeslot last year, Kentucky/Indiana drew a 1.5 on CBS. With Michigan/Duke as a lead-in, look for slightly better numbers. Prediction: 1.8.
- Sunday Night Football on NBC, Ravens/Colts, 8 PM Sunday — Last Monday, the lowly Ravens nearly beat the undefeated Patriots, and gave ESPN the most watched cable program ever in the process. With Baltimore 4-8, and the Colts not chasing a perfect season, do not expect NBC to duplicate ESPN’s success. Prediction: 8.8.
