Ohio State-Notre Dame Draws NBC's Biggest College Football Rating in 30 Years

The Buckeyes-Irish tilt likely has the largest TV audience of the early season.

Ohio State-Notre Dame was arguably college football's biggest matchup in Week 4. As could be expected, huge audiences tuned in for the telecast on NBC and Peacock.

According to the network, 10.5 million viewers watched the Buckeyes' thrilling 17–14 win over the Fighting Irish on Saturday night. That number is the second-highest audience NBC Sports has ever drawn, topped only by 1993's matchup between No. 1 Notre Dame and No. 1 Florida State. That clash, dubbed "Game of the Century," drew 22 million viewers.

The audience for the telecast peaked at 14 million viewers from 10:30 to 10:45 p.m. ET, while Ohio State was driving toward the game-winning touchdown in the closing seconds. 

Ohio State won a thriller over Notre Dame in South Bend, 17–14 :: Photo Credit: Kyle Robertson/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

Online, the average minute audience for Peacock and NBC Sports Digital was 605,000 viewers, resulting in the most-streamed college football simulcast in the network's history. 

While ratings for Week 4's other big broadcasts (including Colorado-Oregon and Ole Miss-Alabama), it's likely that the Buckeyes and Irish provided the biggest audience of the 2023 college football season thus far.