Colorado’s double-overtime victory against Colorado State was must-see television that garnered a ton of eyes after so much back-and-forth trash talk.
Deion Sanders is college football’s biggest current draw.
ESPN’s viewership numbers from Saturday night’s Colorado-Colorado State matchup confirm the Buffaloes’ must-see TV status.
The Buffaloes’ dramatic double-overtime win over in-state rival Colorado State on Saturday was the most-watched game of the 2023 season as they drew an average of 9.3 million viewers. That tops the 9.13 million who watched Florida State’s win over LSU over Labor Day weekend and the 8.76 million people who watched Texas beat Alabama in Week 2.
Those numbers make it the fifth-most watched game on an ESPN network. The viewer number may have started because of trash talk, but the closeness of the game and the fact that Colorado looked like they were going to lose also helped.
According to ESPN, the telecast drew 11.1 million viewers at its peak. Additionally, the Rams-Buffaloes tilt was also the most-streamed regular season telecast in network history.
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The Buffaloes’ victories over TCU and Nebraska averaged about 8 million viewers for Fox.
Colorado was a three-touchdown favorite but had to score twice in the final eight minutes to force overtime after trailing 28-17 early in the fourth quarter. The Buffaloes tied the game with 36 seconds left and won the game in the second overtime on Sanders’ 18-yard TD pass to Michael Harrison.
Colorado faces No. 10 Oregon on Saturday in a game scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on ABC.
