College Football TV Ratings: Iowa State vs. Kansas State averages 4 million to kick off Week 0

Week 0 started off with a thriller as Iowa State and Kansas State took their “Farmageddon” rivalry to Ireland. It also became the most-watched game of the day in the first college football TV ratings release of the year.

The Cyclones’ win over the Wildcats drew 4 million viewers on ESPN, according to data compiled by Sports Media Watch. That’s a drop from last year’s 5 million viewers for Georgia Tech’s victory against then-Top 10 Florida State in Dublin, but still in line with the previous Ireland games over the last four years.

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After a sluggish start to Saturday’s opener, Iowa State and Kansas State traded blows in the fourth quarter. The Cyclones were able to seal the 24-21 victory by converting a 4th-and-3 in the final minutes, and since Carson Hansen went down at the 1-yard line, they were able to take a knee for the last two minutes and run out the clock.

Iowa State vs. Kansas State was quite the way to start Week 0 and get the 2025 season underway. Kansas also debuted its renovations at David Booth Memorial Stadium with a resounding win over Fresno State in a game that averaged 1.6 million viewers, according to Programming Insider. That led the charge in the primetime slot.

Hawaii’s nail-biting victory over Stanford also brought in 1.3 million viewers for CBS as the Rainbow Warriors came back to defeat the Cardinal in Frank Reich’s coaching debut. Kicker Kansei Matsuzawa drilled the game-winning kick to send Hawaii to a walk-off 23-20 victory – UH’s first win over a Power Four program since Timmy Chang took over as head coach.

College football preparing for jam-packed Week 1

With Week 0 in the books, the college football season is off and running. Week 1 is also shaping up to be a jam-packed slate of games, starting with Saturday’s opener.

Texas and Ohio State will square off in a College Football Playoff rematch in Columbus Saturday at Noon ET. It will mark the official start of the Arch Manning Era as the former top recruit takes over as the Longhorns’ full-time starter. For the Buckeyes, Julian Sayin – another top recruit out of high school – will take over as the new quarterback for a team looking to defend its national championship.

LSU at Clemson will also highlight the primetime slate on Saturday as both teams look to start their case for the CFP. There will also be two Sunday games, headlined by Notre Dame at Miami, and a Monday night primetime matchup between TCU and North Carolina. That will mark Bill Belichick’s college football coaching debut following a decorated, Hall of Fame-caliber career in the NFL, and it could be a huge TV ratings win for ESPN.