Ratings for the first-round College Football Playoffs have been revealed. Despite the lopsided outcomes, the four matchups turned in historic numbers for ABC, ESPN and TNT.
Leading the way for the weekend was Ohio State‘s win over Tennessee. Drawing 14.3 million viewers, the matchup was the second-most-watched college football game this season. Ratings peaked at 16.5 million viewers.
They were followed by the only other night game of the weekend, Notre Dame vs. Indiana which took place the night before last Saturday’s three-game slate. Drawing 13.4 million viewers and as many as 14.8 million, this matchup is now the third-most watched game in college football this season.
Texas and Clemson were given the 4 p.m. ET slot on Saturday, earning 8.6 million viewers. This game was the most-viewed college football game to ever be aired on TNT sports broadcasting, and the most-watched December sporting event on TNT, TBS or TruTV in 23 years. It peaked at 9.8 million viewers.
The Noon ET matchup of Penn State and SMU was given the short end of the stick, ratings-wise. Drawing the smallest audience of 6.4 million viewers on average, the game still comes in as the second most-viewed college football game to ever be aired on record across TNT sports. The peak viewership was 7.9 million viewers.
Together, these four games brought in an average of 10.6 million viewers across all live broadcasting and streaming platforms.
While the matchups didn’t even up being the most competitive, the viewership numbers across the board have set the standard for first-round matchups to come in the future.
These games have also set the stage for four more matchups in the quarterfinal, all of which have the potential to eclipse the first round’s ratings given their status as bowl games.
The College Football Playoff’s quarterfinal round will kick off on Tuesday, Dec. 31 with the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl featuring Penn State vs. Boise State in a stand-alone playoff matchup. That will bleed into a triple-header on Saturday starting with Texas and Arizona State in the Peach Bowl.
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