College Football’s Emerging Powers Are Shaking Up TV Ratings
The new world order of college football is not just evident in the latest AP Top 25 poll—it’s starting to show up in TV ratings, too.
Ohio State’s 19-15 win over Indiana on Saturday averaged 10.38 million viewers on Fox, becoming the fourth game broadcast this season to surpass 10 million viewers. The other three games with TV audiences of 10 million-plus (Ohio State–Texas, Georgia-Alabama, and LSU-Mississippi) each included at least one SEC team.
While the Hoosiers played in front of huge College Football Playoff TV audiences (all 18 million-plus) during their national championship run last season, the Ohio State matchup is by far the most-watched regular-season matchup involving Indiana since Curt Cignetti took over as head coach in 2024.
The previous regular-season high for Indiana was 6.03 million viewers on Fox against Penn State last November—which is almost exactly what Hoosiers games are now averaging on Nielsen-rated networks this season (6.033 million viewers) as the No. 5 most-watched college football team through seven weeks.
Next up, No. 6 Indiana visits Michigan on Saturday in Fox’s Big Noon window, which could draw another massive rating for Cignetti and co.
But Indiana isn’t the only program shaking up college football’s media landscape.
Rob Gray-Imagn Images
BYU’s 28-24 victory over Notre Dame on Saturday night averaged 9.2 million viewers on ABC, marking the most-watched Big 12-controlled game broadcast since 2022. ESPN’s College GameDay had its most-watched episode of the season from Provo—including Pat McAfee reading from the Book of Mormon—averaging 3 million viewers.
GameDay is staying in-state this weekend, broadcasting from Salt Lake City ahead of No. 10 Utah hosting No. 14 Houston in another major Big 12 showdown on ESPN. BYU, which vaulted to No. 2 in the AP Top 25 rankings after upsetting the Fighting Irish, is set to visit Utah on Nov. 7, which could produce more monster TV ratings if both teams stay undefeated.
Overall, total college football viewing across all Nielsen-rated networks is up 3% compared to the first seven weeks of the 2025 season, according to Fox Sports executive Mike Mulvihill. Through September, FBS game broadcasts were averaging 1.7 million viewers, which was down 11% against last season.
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