14 million college football fans tuned into the Texas Longhorns historic 24-23 comeback over Ohio State on Saturday, setting several records for ESPN. But the game didn't top the 2025 clash on Fox Sports' Big Noon Saturday.
UT's improbable comeback 14.0 million viewers on ABC, peaking at 16.4 million, according to ESPN PR. That is the most-watched regular-season college football game on ESPN networks in a decade, besting Michigan vs. Ohio State in 2016.
The game in Austin was also the most-watched Week 2 college football game ever. It was the most-watched primetime regular-season game since 2012, which featured Notre Dame vs. USC.
14M viewers tuned in to ABC for @OhioStateFB-@TexasFootball, @ESPNCFB's most-watched regular season game in 10 years
Other top games: 🏈 @AlabamaFTBL-@UKFootball: 7.3M 🏈 @ASUFootball-@AggieFootball: 2.5M 🏈 @oregonfootball-@CowboyFB: 2.1M 🏈 @Vol_Football-@GeorgiaTechFB: 1.8M pic.twitter.com/koOBgV1jmN
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) September 15, 2026
However, viewership for the primetime version of Ohio State and Texas was down from last year’s 16.6 million on Big Noon Saturday on Fox Sports.
One big difference between the two years is both major pregame shows were in Columbus in 2025. Not only was Fox's Big Noon Kickoff in Ohio, but so was ESPN College GameDay, even though the Disney network didn't broadcast the game.
Week 1 typically has more viewers than Week 2 because fans are excited college football is finally back. There was also the extreme hype surrounding the debut of Texas quarterback Arch Manning as a starter.
The way this year's game played out could have also had an impact. The game seemed over at halftime, which probably cause a few fans to tune out or not tune into the later stages of the game at all. Those fans missed a lot.
Nielsen, the major television ratings tracking service has also made a change to the way they track metrics, adding new co-viewing metrics, among other refinements. The NFL has already argued that these changes will hurt its viewership numbers. It is unclear if there is a similar impact on college football viewership metrics, but it is likely.
Either way, both Texas-Ohio State games had huge ratings. When combined, a total 30.6 million viewers watched the two blue bloods battle in the home-and-home series.
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This article originally appeared on Longhorns Wire: Texas vs. Ohio State sets ratings records for ESPN, doesn't beat 2025
