CU Buffs’ Pac-12 opener does another massive TV number

It wasn’t a game for long but a record-setting number of people tuned in to watch the Oregon Ducks trounce the Colorado Buffaloes this past Saturday, with ESPN reporting the numbers for the ABC telecast on Tuesday.

The 42-6 blowout win for the Ducks was the most-watched Pac-12 conference game since 2006 with 10.4 million people tuning in, peaking at 12.6 million viewers. The matchup was also ABC’s second-best game of the last five seasons.

Saturday's @CUBuffsFootball vs @oregonfootball matchup delivered 10.4M viewers on @ABCNetwork – the most-watched game of the '23 season

🏈 Most-viewed @pac12 intra-conference game since '06
🏈 ABC's 2nd-best regular season game in 5 years
🏈 Peak audience: 12.6M viewers pic.twitter.com/5AFEuDcYwW

— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) September 26, 2023

Through four weeks of college football the most watched broadcasts by average this season all belong to the Buffs, and by a wide margin:

10.03M—CU @ Oregon, ABC
9.30M—CU vs Colorado State, ESPN
8.73M—CU vs Nebraska, FOX
7.26M—CU @ TCU, FOX
3.23M—Oregon State vs San Jose State, CBS
3.19M—Utah vs Florida, ESPN
2.97M—UNLV vs Michigan, CBS
2.63M—USC @ Arizona State, FOX
2.55M—Oregon @ Texas Tech, FOX
2.28M—WSU vs Wisconsin, ABC

The Buffaloes have now had 35 million viewers this season.

Colorado hosts USC on Saturday on FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff, another game that will surely do huge TV numbers as possible first-round quarterbacks Caleb Williams and Shedeur Sanders battle.

Deion Sanders shared a lot of respect for Lincoln Riley on Tuesday. The two coaches are in charge of some of the bigger stories in the sport. Sanders has reinvigorated Colorado not just by hype and TV numbers but by winning three games already. Meanwhile, Riley is turning back the clock and making the Trojans relevant again.

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