Ole Miss’s Week 3 win over LSU pulls in huge ratings on ABC, per ESPN
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Ole Miss got the better of Lane Kiffin in his long-anticipated return to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, taking a big lead before holding off LSU for a 32-24 win.
Ole Miss/LSU was set up to be must-see TV, and it ended up being just that for ESPN. The network announced on Tuesday that the ABC broadcast pulled in, on average, 10.9 million viewers, making it the most-watched game of the week. It eventually peaked at 13.7 million. According to ESPN, it’s the eighth-highest-rated regular-season broadcast of the decade across its family of networks.
Meanwhile, Alabama‘s 50-36 win over Florida State on ABC started later than planned and was delayed just before halftime because of weather in the Tuscaloosa area. The broadcast eventually moved to ESPN2 due to the Ole Miss/LSU game. Still, ESPN reported seven million viewers and a peak of eight million.
Among ESPN’s other Saturday games was Kentucky‘s upset win over Texas A&M at Kyle Field. That one averaged 5.4 million viewers and peaked at 8.1 million. Georgia‘s victory at Arkansas on ABC pulled in four million viewers (4.8 million peak). And Clemson‘s win over North Carolina on ESPN, another game affected by weather, drew 3.6 million viewers and peaked at 4.7 million.
Week 4’s schedule features Texas at Tennessee at noon, Ole Miss at Florida at 3:30, and Texas A&M at LSU at 7:30, all on ABC. ESPN will carry Wake Forest at Louisville at noon, Oklahoma at Georgia at 3:30, and South Carolina at Alabama at 7:00.
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.
