The USC/Ohio State game was the highest-rated game in ESPN history, surpassing every bowl Thursday night special ever broadcast on the network. USC/Ohio State garnered the ratings it did due to the unusual out-of-conference matchup between two illustrious, highly ranked teams, exactly the kind of matchup teams have avoided with the addition of a 12th game by scheduling such difficult challenges as Charleston Southern, Troy, and San Jose State.
People Were Mildly Interested in USC/Ohio State
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With a ratings boom like this and the revenue it generates, ESPN now has even more incentive to pressure gently suggest that teams schedule more difficult and exotic games early in the schedule. ESPN also just signed a massive deal with the SEC, meaning the legendarily stationary conference may actually start playing interesting games out-of-conference earlier. (Georgia and Tennessee are already doing that, and so is Alabama, but WE’RE LOOKING AT YOU, FLORIDA.)
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