Audience archive
Most-Watched College Football Games of 2021
The season’s largest reported television audiences, ranked by viewers after review and game matching. Where the archive has a related game video, it appears with that result.
Top 25 audiences
Reported audience is the primary rank; date and game ID break ties.
| Rank | Game | Audience | Broadcast | Date | Watch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 33–18 · Week 1 · postseason Game details → | 22.6M viewers | ESPN Rating — · Share — | Jan 11, 2022 | |
| 2 | 34–11 · Week 1 · postseason Game details → | 17.2M viewers | ESPN Rating — · Share — | Jan 1, 2022 | |
| 3 | 6–27 · Week 1 · postseason Game details → | 16.6M viewers | ESPN Rating — · Share — | Dec 31, 2021 | |
| 4 | 45–48 · Week 1 · postseason Game details → | 16.6M viewers | ESPN Rating — · Share — | Jan 1, 2022 | |
| 5 | 27–42 · Week 13 · regular Game details → | 15.9M viewers | FOX Rating — · Share — | Nov 27, 2021 | |
| 6 | 24–41 · Week 14 · regular Game details → | 15.3M viewers | CBS Rating — · Share — | Dec 4, 2021 | No related video |
| 7 | 42–3 · Week 14 · regular Game details → | 11.7M viewers | FOX Rating — · Share — | Dec 5, 2021 | |
| 8 | 24–22 · Week 13 · regular Game details → | 10.4M viewers | CBS Rating — · Share — | Nov 27, 2021 | No related video |
| 9 | 21–7 · Week 1 · postseason Game details → | 9.79M viewers | ESPN Rating — · Share — | Jan 2, 2022 | |
| 10 | 33–37 · Week 9 · regular Game details → | 9.29M viewers | FOX Rating — · Share — | Oct 30, 2021 | |
| 11 | 10–3 · Week 1 · regular Game details → | 8.86M viewers | ABC Rating — · Share — | Sep 4, 2021 | |
| 12 | 38–41 · Week 6 · regular Game details → | 8.33M viewers | CBS Rating — · Share — | Oct 10, 2021 | |
| 13 | 21–16 · Week 14 · regular Game details → | 8.02M viewers | ABC Rating — · Share — | Dec 4, 2021 | |
| 14 | 37–35 · Week 1 · postseason Game details → | 7.96M viewers | ESPN Rating — · Share — | Jan 1, 2022 | |
| 15 | 31–29 · Week 3 · regular Game details → | 7.86M viewers | CBS Rating — · Share — | Sep 18, 2021 | No related video |
| 16 | 41–38 · Week 1 · regular Game details → | 7.75M viewers | ABC Rating — · Share — | Sep 5, 2021 | No related video |
| 17 | 35–28 · Week 2 · regular Game details → | 7.73M viewers | FOX Rating — · Share — | Sep 11, 2021 | No related video |
| 18 | 21–31 · Week 1 · postseason Game details → | 7.65M viewers | ESPN Rating — · Share — | Dec 31, 2021 | |
| 19 | 20–28 · Week 3 · regular Game details → | 7.61M viewers | ABC Rating — · Share — | Sep 18, 2021 | No related video |
| 20 | 24–33 · Week 9 · regular Game details → | 7.05M viewers | ABC Rating — · Share — | Oct 30, 2021 | No related video |
| 21 | 20–23 · Week 6 · regular Game details → | 6.90M viewers | FOX Rating — · Share — | Oct 9, 2021 | |
| 22 | 33–37 · Week 13 · regular Game details → | 6.49M viewers | ABC Rating — · Share — | Nov 28, 2021 | |
| 23 | 17–20 · Week 1 · postseason Game details → | 6.46M viewers | ABC Rating — · Share — | Jan 1, 2022 | |
| 24 | 13–30 · Week 7 · regular Game details → | 6.37M viewers | CBS Rating — · Share — | Oct 16, 2021 | No related video |
| 25 | 45–31 · Week 1 · regular Game details → | 6.29M viewers | FOX Rating — · Share — | Sep 3, 2021 | No related video |
Coverage and methodology
This is a research archive, not a complete Nielsen census. It includes matched records from CFBTrack’s collected sources; early seasons and some networks are partial. Rejected, unresolved, and below-confidence matches are excluded. Duplicate measurements for one outlet are resolved by match confidence, then distinct matched broadcast outlets are combined into the game audience before ranking.