The #1 vs #2 showdown in the Big Ten Championship Game didn’t really mean anything when it came to the College Football Playoff, but viewers still showed up in a big way for Indiana’s historic victory over Ohio State.
The Hoosiers won their first outright Big Ten title since 1945 in a close, tense 13-10 defensive struggle against the Buckeyes. Not only did Indiana hand Ohio State their first loss of the season, they also claimed the top seed for the College Football Playoff. It capped what stands as one of the most remarkable turnarounds in the history of the sport behind head coach Curt Cignetti and presumed Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza.
According to Fox Sports, 18.3 million people watched Saturday night in primetime for the most-watched Big Ten championship in the 14 year history of the event.
HOO HOO HOO… HOOSIERS 🏆@IndianaFootball‘s win in the Big Ten Championship scored 18,332,000 viewers on FOX – with a peak of 19,993,000 viewers from 11:00-11:15 PM ET.
🏈 Most-watched @bigten Championship Game on record
🏈 Most-watched CFB telecast of Championship Weekend on… pic.twitter.com/VEs7BJ0Ryz
— FOX Sports PR (@FOXSportsPR) December 9, 2025
Not to be outdone, ESPN claimed some Championship Saturday victories of their own. The SEC championship between Georgia and Alabama drew 16.9 million viewers while the Big 12 title game featuring Texas Tech and BYU drew 9 million viewers. Neither of those games were close down the stretch, which likely hurt the peak totals.
Even though the Duke-Virginia ACC championship game had playoff implications and went to overtime, it was no match for the Big Ten in primetime as it mustered just under 4 million viewers. All together, ESPN claimed their second best championship weekend since 2014.
ABC & @ESPNCFB score their 2nd best Championship weekend since 2014
🏆 @SEC: 16.9M viewers
🏆 @Big12Conference: 9.0M
🏆 @theACC: 3.9M
🏆 @American_Conf: 2.4M
🏆 @SunBelt: 1.1M pic.twitter.com/8YQqacI2H4
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) December 9, 2025
Like all sports ratings in 2025, the caveat comes that these numbers have trended higher in the Big Data era of Nielsen measurement, but they are nevertheless incredibly strong.
With the expansion of the playoff, conference championship games are definitely on the endangered species list. In a month or so, nobody is really going to remember the result of the Indiana-Ohio State game as they chase a national championship. The same is true of Georgia and Alabama in the SEC. Even though there were millions of viewers, it doesn’t change the long term issues that face the entire construct of conference championship games and how best to structure the sport’s postseason.
But in spite of one crisis and one drama after another, and whether or not these championship games truly matter, it shows that fans still love whatever college football they can get.