Texas-Oklahoma Gets 8.7M Viewers, Most-Watched CFB Game of Week 7

The Red River Rivalry was the most-watched college football game of Week 7 action, as 8.7 million people watched Texas defeat Oklahoma 23–6 on ABC.

That marks the largest TV audience for a Texas-Oklahoma regular-season matchup since 2009.

The second meeting of the Longhorns and Sooners, squaring off as SEC members, beat out the Indiana-Oregon Big Ten clash on CBS, which also aired at 3:30 p.m. ET and averaged 5.6 million viewers. The Hoosiers’ 30–20 upset over the Ducks was only the fourth most-watched game of the day, behind all three SEC contests on ABC.

• Oklahoma-Texas: 8.7 million (ABC)
• Alabama-Missouri: 7 million (ABC)
• Georgia-Auburn: 6.7 million (ABC)
• Indiana-Oregon: 5.6 million (CBS)
• Ohio State–Illinois: 5.28 million (Fox)

USC’s 31–13 win over Michigan drew 4.3 million viewers on NBC on Saturday night, going head-to-head with Georgia-Auburn. Alabama-Missouri beat out Ohio State–Illinois in the noon window.

Ratings Surge

Now halfway through college football’s regular season, ABC is still off to its best start on record, averaging 6.9 million viewers per game. ESPN networks are off to their best start since 2002, averaging an audience of 2.4 million.

Games in Fox’s Big Noon Saturday window are averaging 5.87 million viewers, which is 35% compared to the first seven weeks of the 2024 season.

The ratings momentum continues what was already a strong college football season across all TV networks.