College football's grandest spectacle shines on Ohio State at Texas in Week 2, a mammoth matchup between top-5 teams with eventual playoff implications that could challenge all-time viewership records for a regular-season game.
On the shortlist of national championship contenders this season, the Buckeyes and Longhorns rolled to season-opening victories to set up a game that's sure to include fireworks between two of the nation's most high-powered offenses and talent-rich rosters.
According to a 2024 Nielsen study, the most-watched teams in college football are Georgia, Ohio State, Alabama, Texas and Tennessee. Considering the Buckeyes and Longhorns are two of the biggest draws nationally, Saturday's game has a chance to approach -- if not break -- the all-time mark for a regular-season matchup set in 1993 when Notre Dame and Florida State drew roughly 22 million viewers.
Last season's opener between the Buckeyes and Longhorns for the noon matchup in Columbus was the most-watched Week 1 regular-season game in history at 16.62 million viewers, pitting No. 1 vs. No. 2 in the preseason AP poll. The most-watched game overall last season was Indiana's victory over Miami in the national championship, which drew 30.1 million viewers.
Only four national championship games all-time have exceeded that number -- Texas vs. USC (2006; 35.6M), Ohio State vs. Oregon (2015; 33.4) and Alabama vs. Miami (1993; 30.4).
Nielsen ratings breakdown
Viewership is calculated as the number of viewers ages 2 or older watching a game per average minute. In other words, a game with 5.5 million viewers per minute does not mean that 5.5 million viewers watched the game in total. Total viewing numbers are instead calculated using an estimate.
Nielsen ratings include games watched on streaming services, same-day DVR and viewership inside bars and restaurants under the "out-of-home" designation. Sampling data is used to estimate audiences.
2025 most-watched regular-season games
| Matchup | Avg. number of viewers (millions) |
|---|---|
1. Ohio State vs. Michigan (Nov. 29, 2025) | 18.4 |
2. Texas vs. Ohio State (Aug. 30) | 16.6 |
3. Texas A&M vs. Texas (Nov. 28) | 13 |
4. Georgia vs. Tennessee (Sept. 13) | 12.5 |
5. Alabama vs. Auburn (Nov. 11) | 11.3 |
6. Notre Dame vs. Miami (Aug. 31) | 10.8 |
7. Oklahoma vs. Alabama (Nov. 15) | 10.48 |
8. Texas vs. Georgia (Nov. 15) | 10.43 |
9. Alabama vs. Georgia (Sept. 27) | 10.42 |
10. Alabama vs. Florida State (Aug. 30) | 10.40 |
Texas was involved in three of the eight most-watched regular-season games last fall, per Statista, partly due to the Arch Manning factor and a robust schedule that included several appetizing contests against nationally ranked opponents.
While Birmingham, Alabama, consistently leads college football viewership markets annually, Columbus, Ohio, is not far behind. The Texas draw in the South, as an SEC member, will direct eyeballs to Saturday night's tussle in Austin.
There aren't many matchups in the same time slot that will pull viewers from the biggest non-conference game of the year, strengthening Ohio State-Texas' shot at the record. It's one of only two matchups featuring nationally ranked teams in Week 2; the other is being played at 12 p.m. ET (Oklahoma at Michigan).
Tennessee at Georgia Tech is one to keep an eye on if Ohio State-Texas falls short of 20 million viewers or more. The Knoxville, Chattanooga and Atlanta markets are all inside the top-10 for viewership, and two of those cities feature a heavy Vols contingent.
High stakes bring tons of interest
The Buckeyes and Longhorns each earned spots in our CBS Sports preseason playoff projection, given the wealth of talent and heightened expectations for each program this season. Ohio State is coming off an unbeaten regular season last fall before falling to Indiana in the Big Ten Championship and later, national runner-up Miami in the CFP quarterfinals.
Texas signed several playmakers in the portal to pair with Manning this offseason after 10 wins last fall weren't enough to crack the final bracket.
"I bet there's close to 20 million people that watch this game," Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said Monday. "That's pretty cool when you think about it."
Six of college football's 20-best players, according to our preseason CBS Sports Top 150, will be featured in this one, too. Each of these programs churns out NFL Draft picks, with more coming in the next cycle, and Saturday night's game at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium provides an early-season showcase for viewers across the country.
