College Football TV Ratings: Top 10 most-watched games of Week 8
As October begins to wind down, college football’s TV ratings remain strong. ABC was once again a big winner in Week 8, including one of the Top 10 most-watched games of the season.
ABC won the three main windows – Noon ET, 3:30 p.m. ET and primetime – as the network holds strong atop the list. Ole Miss at Georgia led that charge in a game that saw both offenses on full display before the Bulldogs came away with a crucial SEC victory. That was one of seven college football games to appear in Nielsen’s Top 25 live sports telecasts of the week, according to Nielsen data.
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On3 compiled Nielsen Big Data + Panel ratings data from network PR for the Top 10 most-watched games of Week 8. Here is the full breakdown of the week’s college football TV ratings. Data was delayed due to the AWS outage over the weekend.
Note: SEC Network, ACC Network and CBS Sports Network do not pay for Nielsen to measure viewership. More data will be added as necessary.
Ole Miss at Georgia
Date/Time: Oct. 18, 3:30 p.m. ET
Channel: ABC
Viewers: 9.79 million
The Week 8 slate saw a big-time matchup in Athens as Ole Miss took on Georgia. Both offenses were on full display before the Bulldogs came away with the 43-35 victory in what became the most-watched game of the week with 9.8 million viewers.
Tennessee at Alabama
Date/Time: Oct. 18, 7:30 p.m. ET
Channel: ABC
Viewers: 8.01 million
The Third Saturday in October delivered again as ABC won primetime. Alabama not only took down rival Tennessee and fired up the celebratory cigars, but also picked up its fourth straight ranked victory as the Crimson Tide extended the winning streak to six games.
LSU at Vanderbilt
Date/Time: Oct. 18, Noon ET
Channel: ABC
Viewers: 5.94 million
Another big-time SEC showdown helped lead off the Week 8 slate of games as LSU headed to Vanderbilt to take on the red-hot Commodores. Diego Pavia and Co. got another huge win, taking down the Tigers at FirstBank Stadium as they stuck to their winning ways.
USC at Notre Dame
Date/Time: Oct. 18, 7:30 p.m. ET
Channel: NBC
Viewers: 4.6 million
The Battle for the Jeweled Shillelagh returned to South Bend as Notre Dame took on USC what’s currently the last scheduled game of the rivalry. Jeremiyah Love stole the show for the Fighting Irish en route to a 34-24 victory over the Trojans, which extended the winning streak to five games.
Washington at Michigan
Date/Time: Oct. 18, Noon ET
Channel: FOX
Viewers: 4.32 million
FOX’s Big Noon Saturday returned to Ann Arbor for a battle between two of the Big Ten’s top young quarterbacks. Ultimately, Bryce Underwood and Michigan defeated Demond Williams and Washington in front of 4.3 million viewers.
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Ohio State at Wisconsin
Date/Time: Oct. 18, 3:30 p.m. ET
Channel: CBS
Viewers: 4.0 million
CBS’ top game of Week 8 saw a dominating performance from Ohio State, which shut out Wisconsin at Camp Randall Stadium. Julian Sayin threw for 393 yards and four touchdowns to lead the charge for the Buckeyes, who remain undefeated entering Week 9.
Louisville at Miami
Date/Time: Oct. 17, 7 p.m. ET
Channel: ESPN
Viewers: 3.41 million
The Friday night primetime slate saw two highly rated games, with Louisville’s upset win over Miami leading the way for ESPN with 3.4 million viewers. Carson Beck struggled in the matchup, throwing four turnovers as the No. 2-ranked Hurricanes fell to the Cardinals at Hard Rock Stadium.
Nebraska at Minnesota
Date/Time: Oct. 17, 8 p.m. ET
Channel: FOX
Viewers: 2.66 million
Also in the Friday night window, Nebraska and Minnesota squared off in the Twin Cities. The Golden Gophers put together quite a performance, taking down the Cornhuskers 24-6 in front of 2.7 million viewers on FOX.
Texas at Kentucky
Date/Time: Oct. 18, 7 p.m. ET
Channel: ESPN
Viewers: 2.64 million
The Texas offense struggled mightily in the Week 8 matchup against Kentucky, but the Longhorns still got the victory over the Wildcats in Lexington. An average of 2.64 million viewers tuned in for the game as Arch Manning and Co. got the victory despite just 175 yards of offense.
Texas Tech at Arizona State
Date/Time: Oct. 18, 4 p.m. ET
Channel: FOX
Viewers: 2.56 million
Rounding out the Top 10 most-watched games of Week 8, Texas Tech headed to Tempe without starting quarterback Behren Morton due to injury. Arizona State got Sam Leavitt back, though, and the Sun Devils pulled off the upset in a game that had big-time ramifications on the Big 12 race.
As October begins to wind down, college football’s TV ratings are still plenty strong with the final sprint toward conference championships on the way. For ABC, things show no signs of slowing down after getting off to a monster start to the year.