The College Football Playoff's 12-team experiment is producing major results for the sport's broadcast partner, ESPN. Ratings were up 14% over last year's quarterfinal matchups, with the Indiana Hoosiers-Alabama Crimson Tide Rose Bowl matchup and the Ohio State Buckeyes-Miami Hurricanes Cotton Bowl Classic leading the charge.
Regarding the Rose Bowl, the most-watched matchup of the 12-team era so far, per The Associated Press, "Top-seeded Indiana's 38-3 rout of No. 9 Alabama in the Rose Bowl Game Presented by Prudential averaged 24.9 million viewers, making it the most-watched College Football Playoff game since Michigan's win over Washington in the 2024 title game drew 25 million. Overall, it was the 12th highest-viewed game in the 12 years of the CFP and a 13% jump from last year's Rose Bowl between Ohio State and Oregon. The audience for the Hoosiers' first trip to the Rose Bowl since the 1967 season peaked at 25.6 million."
As for Miami-Ohio State, the shocking 24-14 upset in Arlington, Texas, averaged 19 million and peaked at 21.6 million, a 37% jump from last season's Dec. 31 quarterfinal between Penn State and Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl.
The noon matchup on New Year's Day, the Oregon Ducks' 23-0 rout of the Texas Tech Red Raiders, drew just under 16 million viewers, while the Ole Miss Rebels' 39-34 upset of the Georgia Bulldogs drew just under 19 million viewers.
CFP semifinals ratings will speak to brand supremacy in College Football
It'll be interesting to see if viewers tune out for the Fiesta Bowl matchup between Ole Miss and Miami or the Peach Bowl matchup between Indiana and Oregon. The latter is a rematch, while the former is a matchup that has only happened three times in history and not since 1951.
If these games draw big ratings, it's the health of the sport that's in good shape. The biggest brands will be known not to have to carry the load moving forward, and the CFP selection committee may be more inclined to be as objective as possible.
If business suffers from not having the Ohio States, Alabamas, and Georgias of the world? Well, everything will be done to restore what made those teams the creme de la creme for so long.
We'll see how things break over the next week and a half, and the months that follow.