Though it was billed as the "Game of the Century," the showdown between No. 1 LSU and No. 2 Alabama failed to live up to its billing on the field. The Tigers bested the Crimson Tide, 9-6, on Saturday night in a game that featured eight punts, four missed field goals and zero touchdowns.
But despite the pedestrian play, there was one place LSU-Alabama did score: the television ratings.
An average of 20 million people saw the defensive slugfest — the highest viewership total for a CBS college football game since Nov. 25, 1989, when Miami knocked off defending national champion Notre Dame, 27-10, in a "Catholics vs. Convicts" rematch.
Though Saturday's game featured limited excitement through four quarters, viewership numbers swelled during overtime, with 24.3 million people watching between 11:30 and 11:39 p.m. in the East.
The last time the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams met during the regular season was Nov. 18, 2006, when top-ranked Ohio State hosted rival Michigan in Columbus, Ohio. A total of 21 million people tuned in to ABC to watch the Buckeyes escape with a 42-39 victory.
The most-watched college football game on ESPN was a Sept. 12, 2009, game between USC and Ohio State. The Trojans won, 18-15, before an audience of 10.6 million viewers.
