Week 2 of the college football season faced a high bar following a historic Week 1 from a TV ratings perspective. Some notable games awaited, led by a showdown between Oklahoma and Michigan in primetime.
The matchup put Washington State transfer John Mateer against top-rated freshman Bryce Underwood as the quarterbacks took center stage. Ultimately, Mateer and OU got the victory in the most-watched game of Week 2 – which took the top spot for another big week for ESPN and ABC.
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As a whole, college football viewership is up more than 25% through two weeks, according to analyst Michael Mulvihill. On3 compiled data from press releases, Sports Media Watch and Programming Insider to break down the week’s college football TV ratings. Here are the Top 10 most-watched games of Week 2.
Note: NBC’s data for Boston College at Michigan State was not available at the time of publication. SEC Network and ACC Network do not pay for Nielsen to measure viewership.
Date/Time: Sept. 6, 7:30 p.m. ET
Channel: ABC
Viewers: 9.7 million
The headliner in the Week 2 primetime window delivered. John Mateer got the job done with both his arm and his legs as Oklahoma came away with a marquee victory over Michigan in Norman in front of the fifth-largest college football audience this season, according to Nielsen.
Date/Time: Sept. 6, 3:30 p.m. ET
Channel: ABC
Viewers: 4.8 million
ESPN and ABC remain red-hot in the 3:30 p.m. ET window as Ole Miss and Kentucky came in as the No. 2 most-watched game in Week 2. The Rebels and Wildcats traded blows, but Lane Kiffin’s group ultimately held on to take down UK at Kroger Field in the first SEC matchup of the young season.
Another statement victory came in Durham during the noon window as Illinois capitalized on five Duke turnovers to get the 45-19 victory. That game drew more than 2 million viewers on ESPN, making it the most-watched game on the channel during Week 2.
Date/Time: Sept. 6, 3:30 p.m. ET
Channel: ESPN2
Viewers: 1.8 million
The long-awaited return of the Border War between Kansas and Missouri became a huge TV ratings win for ESPN2. The Tigers’ victory over the Jayhawks became the channel’s most-watched college football game since 2022 as 1.8 million people tuned in, sealing a spot in the Top 10 most-viewed games of the week.
Date/Time: Sept. 6, Noon ET
Channel: The CW
Viewers: 1 million
Rounding out the Top 10, The CW got its third-largest audience for a college football game to date as Baylor and SMU went to double-overtime. It felt like a had-to-have-it game for Dave Aranda, and the Bears came through with the thrilling 48-45 victory on the road.
TV networks have been off to a hot start to the season, notably ABC and FOX, which remain atop the Top 10 most-watched games of the week. More marquee games are on the way with conference play on the horizon, as well.
