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Despite tough season, South Carolina football ranks in top 15 nationally in television ratings

Screenshotby: Kevin Miller12 minutes agokevinmillerGC

South Carolina football fans are among the best in all of college football. Despite a 4-8 season, the Gamecocks sold out every home game for the second year in a row. On top of that, USC also ranked among the nation’s best in television ratings.

According to the Nielsen Ratings, South Carolina was the No. 13 most-watched team in college football this fall.

You can see the entire top 20 below (with average viewership also in parentheses).

  1. Alabama Crimson Tide (averaging 8.493 million viewers)
  2. Texas Longhorns (averaging 7.546 million viewers)
  3. Georgia Bulldogs (averaging 7.476 million viewers)
  4. Ohio State Buckeyes (averaging 6.567 million viewers)
  5. Oklahoma Sooners (averaging 6.468 million viewers)
  6. LSU Tigers (averaging 6.415 million viewers)
  7. Tennessee Volunteers (averaging 6.205 million viewers)
  8. Auburn Tigers (averaging 5.255 million viewers)
  9. Michigan Wolverines (averaging 5.077 million viewers)
  10. Texas A&M Aggies (averaging 4.987 million viewers)
  11. Florida Gators (averaging 4.678 million viewers)
  12. Ole Miss Rebels (averaging 4.481 million viewers)
  13. South Carolina Gamecocks (averaging 4.154 million viewers)
  14. Florida State Seminoles (averaging 4.068 million viewers)
  15. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (averaging 3.925 million viewers)
  16. Vanderbilt Commodores (averaging 3.593 million viewers)
  17. Missouri Tigers (averaging 3.506 million viewers)
  18. Penn State Nittany Lions (averaging 3.433 million viewers)
  19. Miami Hurricanes (averaging 3.425 million viewers)
  20. Oregon Ducks (averaging 3.290 million viewers)

The Insiders Forum: Discuss South Carolina football!

The Nielsen Ratings, for those unaware, are known as America’s “leader in audience measurement for live sports.”

South Carolina’s matchup against Alabama was the most-watched game of that week with an average of 7.8 million viewers. Carolina fans helped reach that number, even though the game was played in October, historically the least-watched month of the college football season.

The Gamecocks’ average viewership is higher than several College Football Playoff hopefuls and higher than multiple “blue bloods” of the sport.

The Insiders Forum: Discuss South Carolina football!