When the Longhorns dramatically stunned the USC Trojans in 2006, it became the most watched national championship game (35.6 million viewers) of the BCS era. But heavy star power – with names like Young, Leinart, and Bush – and an opponent from the second highest media market (Los Angeles) had a lot to with that.
MOST WATCHED BCS CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES, SINCE 1999 RANK DATE BOWL TEAMS AVG # OF VIEWERS 1 1/4/2006 * Rose Texas vs. USC 35,630,000 2 1/3/2003 Fiesta Ohio State vs. Miami 29,104,000 3 1/8/2007 * BCS Florida vs. Ohio State 28,795,000 4 1/3/2001 Orange Oklahoma vs. Florida State 27,240,000 5 1/1/2000 Sugar Florida State vs Virginia Tech 26,962,000 Source: The Nielsen Company
* - Live + Same Day Viewing Estimates On This Page Include DVR Playback On The Same Day, Defined As 3AM-3AMOne thing’s for sure: the teams’ home markets will certainly be watching in full force. When Alabama defeated Florida in the SEC Championship Game last month, a whopping 50.2% of all TV households in the Birmingham market were tuned in. Meanwhile 32.3% of Austin’s TV households tuned in to Texas’s narrow 13-12 win over Nebraska in the Big 12 Championship Game.
Read Full Story With Top Local Markets So Far For This Year's Bowl Season
Here's all the ratings we have on past college football championship games.
| Number of | Number of | ||||||
| Year | Bowl | Network | rating | Share | Homes | Viewers | Teams |
| 1/7/2008 * | BCS | FOX | 14.4 | 22 | 16,291,000 | 23,069,000 | LSU vs. Ohio State |
| 1/8/2007 * | BCS | FOX | 17.4 | 27 | 19,378,000 | 28,795,000 | Florida vs. Ohio State |
| 1/4/2006 * | Rose | ABC | 21.7 | 35 | 23,928,000 | 35,630,000 | Texas vs. USC |
| 1/4/05 | Orange | ABC | 13.7 | 22 | 14,996,000 | 21,419,000 | USC vs. Oklahoma |
| 1/4/04 | Sugar | ABC | 14.8 | 23 | 16,047,000 | 23,937,000 | LSU vs. Oklahoma |
| 1/3/03 | Fiesta | ABC | 17.2 | 29 | 18,385,000 | 29,104,000 | Ohio State vs. Miami |
| 1/3/02 | Rose | ABC | 13.8 | 22 | 14,548,000 | 21,559,000 | Miami (Florida) vs Nebraska |
| 1/3/01 | Orange | ABC | 17.8 | 28 | 18,200,000 | 27,240,000 | Oklahoma vs. Florida State |
| 1/1/00 | Sugar | ABC | 17.5 | 28 | 17,680,000 | 26,962,000 | Florida State vs Virginia Tech |
| 1/4/99 | Fiesta | ABC | 17.2 | 26 | 17,081,000 | 26,112,000 | Tennessee vs Florida State |
| 1/1/98 | Rose | ABC | 17.6 | 32 | 17,294,000 | 28,989,000 | Michigan vs Washington State |
| 1/2/97 | Sugar | ABC | 17.9 | 29 | 17,330,000 | 25,735,050 | Florida vs Florida State |
| 1/2/96 | Fiesta | CBS | 18.8 | 31 | 18,030,000 | 27,883,000 | Nebraska vs Florida |
| 1/1/95 | Orange | NBC | 18.9 | 31 | 18,031,000 | 30,000,000 | Nebraska vs Miami (Florida) |
| 1/1/94 | Orange | NBC | 17.8 | 31 | 16,768,000 | 28,814,000 | Florida State vs Nebraska |
| 1/1/93 | Sugar | ABC | 18.2 | 31 | 16,940,000 | 30,136,260 | Alabama vs Miami (Florida) |
| 1/1/92 | Orange | NBC | 11.0 | 18 | 10,130,000 | 16,591,000 | Miami (Florida) vs Nebraska |
| 1//1991 | Orange | NBC | 18.3 | 30 | 17,040,000 | 29,600,000 | Colorado vs Notre Dame |
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*Note: Live + Same Day Viewing Estimates On This Page Include DVR Playback On The Same Day, Defined As 3AM-3AM. All other years are Live viewing only.
