ESPN got more than it bargained for during Texas‘s Week 2 win over Ohio State. The Longhorns trailed 23-3 in the fourth quarter, but stormed back to defeat the Buckeyes 24-23 in a marquee early-season matchup.
Technical difficulties aside, ESPN pulled in some of its highest ratings for a college football game. An average of 14 million viewers tuned into the ABC broadcast, with a high of 16.4 million. It was ESPN’s highest-rated regular-season game since Ohio State’s overtime win over Michigan in 2016.
Texas vs. Ohio State wasn’t the only game on offer, of course. Alabama‘s win over Kentucky was watched by an average of 7.3 million on ABC, and as many as nine million.
Another big slate of games is scheduled for the ESPN networks during Week 3. None is bigger than Lane Kiffin‘s return to Oxford as LSU visits Ole Miss in one of the most anticipated meetings of the 2026 season. While it will be the conference opener for both programs, it could go a long way in deciding both the SEC and College Football Playoff race.
LSU-Ole Miss will also receive the College GameDay treatment. The show is coming off its most-watched Week 2 episode of all time. Week 3 could pull in a bigger audience.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
