In a Week 7 that included four top ten losses and some wild upsets, plenty of college football fans tuned in. Despite the usual dominance of the SEC in viewership stats, this week’s numbers had another conference nabbing the top matchup. According to On3 and information from the Nielsen Big Data + Panel Data, one eight-figure viewership game led the nation.
Top Week 7 Games
FOX took top honors with the battle of top five teams in Ohio State vs. Indiana, drawing an estimated 10.4 million viewers. Interestingly, the weekend’s second biggest viewrship game also did not involve the SEC, as ABC’s evening telecast of BYU and Notre Dame drew 9.2 million watchers.
SEC’s Week 7 Viewership
The SEC’s biggest viewership for Week 7 came in the Alabama/Tennessee matchup as 8.1 million watchers tuned in for the annual battle between two SEC powerhouses. The SEC had two more significantly watched games, with Florida’s upset win over Texas drawing the weekend’s fourth best stats with 4.7 million viewers. The lone remaining SEC battle making the top 10 was Auburn’s upset of previously No. 1 Georgia, which finished seventh with approximately 3.5 million watchers.
Big Ten Viewership for Week 7
In many regards, it was the Big Ten’s week. Not only did they have the nation’s top-viewed game, but they also claimed the No. 5 game with struggling traditional powers Penn State and Michigan facing off on CBS and drawing 4.5 million viewers. Wisconsin and Purdue (No. 8, 2.6 million) and Nebraska vs. Oregon (No. 9, 2.5 million viewers) also joined the top ten.
Top ACC, Big 12 Games
The ACC was represented with Miami’s double-overtime thriller with Florida State. Despite the high drama factor, that ESPN telecast drew just 3.6 million viewers, good for sixth best on the week. The Big 12 was represented both by BYU in the No.2. game, but also by Arizona State’s matchup with Texas Tech, which rounded out the Top 10 games with about 2.5 million viewers.
Week 8 TV Situation
After an exciting Week 7, the Week 8 slate figures to be a bit more low-impact. Six of the top 25 teams are off as the midseason stretch is continuing. There’s only two slated top 25 battles, down from six a week ago, with Ole Miss treavling to Texas, which will air on ABC and Houston facing off with Utah, with is slated for ESPN.
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