With Alabama and Michigan, two of the biggest brands in college football, facing off in Pasadena and a spot in the national championship on the line, huge television ratings were anticipated.
But the numbers on the Rose Bowl ended up being even bigger than initially anticipated. ESPN pulled in a monstrous 27.2 million viewers during the broadcast, eventually peaking at 32.8 million.
This made it the largest college football audience since the 2018 national championship, the top non-NFL sporting event on TV since 2018, and a top-10 cable viewership in history.
The 32.8 million peak is the highest of any semifinal game ever.
27.2 million viewers made it the highest-rated semifinal game since the first ever College Football Playoff game in 2015 when Alabama lost to Ohio State.
The following game between Washington and Texas in the Sugar Bowl sat at 18.4 million viewers and only peaked at 24.5 million.
The next stop on the rating radar will be the national championship game — which will not feature an SEC team for the first time since 2015 when Ohio State took on Oregon.
Michael Brauner is a Senior Sports Analyst and Contributing Writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @MBraunerWNSP
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