Sarni's Scrolls: Ringing In Big Ratings
By Jim Sarni
A riveting Rose Bowl. Add a sensational Sugar Bowl.
The result: college football’s largest audience in six years.
Monday’s College Football Playoff semifinals averaged 22.6 million viewers across the ESPN networks, per Nielsen fast-nationals — the highest average since 2017 and third-highest in the decade-long history of the playoff.
The Michigan-Alabama Rose Bowl led the way with 27.2 million viewers, marking the largest college football audience since the 2018 Alabama-Georgia national championship (28.44M) and second-largest since the inaugural year of the playoff in 2015.
The Wolverines’ overtime win, which peaked with a semifinal-record 32.8 million viewers, increased 21% from last year’s comparable TCU-Michigan Fiesta Bowl, which aired on New Year’s Eve (21.70M).
Monday’s Rose Bowl was also the most attended game in the event's history.
Later in the night, the Washington-Texas Sugar Bowl averaged 18.4 million — down 18% from last year’s Georgia-Ohio State Peach Bowl (22.45M) and the least-watched New Year’s Day semifinal yet.
The Huskies’ win, which peaked with 24.5 million viewers, did not begin until after 9 PM ET due to the length of the Rose Bowl and lasted until nearly 1 AM. Of the 20 total semifinal games under the four-team format, it ranks 15th.
This year marks the end of the four-team College Football Playoff. The event expands to twelve teams starting next season. The two most-watched semifinal games under the four-team format remain the first ones in the 2014-15 season, the Ohio State-Alabama Sugar Bowl at 28.27 million viewers and the Oregon-Florida State Rose Bowl at 28.16 million.
***
■ Michigan and Washington, who square off for the CFP National Championship on Jan. 8, will play again in their first regular-season Big Ten game on Oct. 5 in Seattle. Who knows, they could face each other in the Big Ten title game in December as well.
■ Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. would win the Heisman Trophy if the voting were held today.
■ Washington is the first-ever non-Nike school to make the CFP national championship game. It will be Adidas' first showing in a title game since 2013.
■ Don't forget the FCS championship game between Montana (13-1) and South Dakota St (14-0) on Sunday 2 p.m., ABC)
***
■ Transfer portal: QB DJ Uiagalelei (Clemson, Oregon St) to FSU, QB KJ Jefferson (Arkansas) to UCF, QB Cam Ward (Washington St) spurning portal for the NFL.
■ Iowa was outscored 92-0 in three games against AP-ranked teams... The Hawkeyes are the lowest-scoring 10-win team in D-1 history.
■ The Cheez-It Citrus Bowl Mascot held up a sign reading "non-edible mascot."
■ ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter is a Michigan alum.
■ ESPN apologized for showing a video of a woman flashing her breast during Monday's Sugar Bowl telecast. A clip of people wandering on Bourbon St. included a woman pulling down her top. Girls just want to have fun.
***
Front Office Sports 2024 Predictions
■ ESPN's Stephen A. Smith will become a $20 million man.
■ The NBA will double its media partners.
■ Tom Brady will kick off his Fox broadcast career.
■ ESPN will make a run at Colin Coherd
■ The NBA will take a stake in ESPN.
■ Netflix will remain on the fence regarding live sports.
***
ESPN daytime TV... it's not just sports talk. On Tuesday:
■ Jimmy Kimmel threatened to see Aaron Rodgers “in court” if the Jets quarterback kept insinuating that the late-night host had a relatwionship with late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Kimmel’s fiery response stems from Rodgers’ appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show."
■ On "First Take," Dan Orlovsky smelled host Molly Qerim's new shoe.
***
ETC.
■ The NFL fined Carolina owner David Tepper $300,000 for throwing a drink into the crowd near the end of a 26-0 loss in Jacksonville. No²
t enough. Darren Rovell did the math... that's $1.77 to the average American
■ Amazon's NFL viewership was up 24% this season to 11.86M.
■ Snoop Dogg is joining NBC's Paris Olympics broadcast team as a special correspondent.
■ World Juniors men's hockey semifinals: U.S. in, Canada out.
■ The Swanky Wolverine website added "Titanic" to Michigan's walkoff Rose Bowl win. Spectacular.
■ Women's basketball: Grambling 159, College of Biblical Studies 18.
■ Caitlin Clark!!!
***
THEY SAID IT
■ "It’s going to be a great atmosphere on Sunday night in Miami, and we’re going to need all the fans we can get down there.” -- Bills coach Sean McDermott on Buffalo-Miami showdown.