For the first time since its inception in 2014, both Ohio State and Michigan made it to the promised land known as the four-team College Football Playoff. It was the first time any conference outside of the SEC saw two teams make the format, and unfortunately, both Big Ten schools came up short in two pretty amazing games.
But you know we like to brag anytime Ohio State beats Michigan in anything. It could be rock, paper, scissors between two graduate assistants and we’d be ready to bring the news to you. Well, we have one such instance because according to the PR department of ESPN, the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl between Ohio State and Georgia pulled in more viewers than Michigan vs. TCU in the VRBO Fiesta Bowl.
According to the release, OSU vs. UGA delivered 22.1 million viewers and peaked out at 23.9 million viewers between 9:45 to 10 p.m. Meanwhile, TCU’s upset of Michigan also drew a massive audience but fell short of those watching OSU at 21.4 million viewers. The peak was higher at 26.4 million, but the overall audience was not.
The @CFAPeachBowl scored 22.1 million viewers, the most-watched primetime #CFBPlayoff Semifinal since Year 1
🏈 Top 20 cable telecast all-time
🏈 Peaked at nearly 24 million viewers pic.twitter.com/bCUhxFlTce— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) January 2, 2023
The two contests together were the most viewed non-New Year’s Day semifinals and was the best in five years. It was the 3rd most-watched semifinal in the CFP era. It didn’t hurt that both games were entertaining and classic, but it also didn’t hurt that Ohio State was involved.
That’s right. The most-watched College Football Playoff semifinal of all time was Ohio State’s win over Alabama in 2014. Like we always say; Ohio State football turns on television sets (and streaming devices).
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