ESPN PR reported Tuesday that ABC anchored Week 7’s biggest college-football audiences, led by Oklahoma–Texas (8.7 million average viewers, peak 9.3M), Alabama–Missouri (7.0M, peak 10.7M) and Georgia–Auburn (6.7M, peak 8.0M).
The announcement revealed how ESPN networks are off to their strongest college football start since 2009 — a 2.4 million average, up 26% year-over-year — while ABC posted a record seven-week start (6.9M, up 28%).
Kirk Herbstreit, a former Ohio State quarterback who has been with ESPN’s “College GameDay” since 1996, was among the first to react to the news, sharing a celebratory post on X.
“Another great day of CFB action on ABC/ESPN! This week will be even BIGGER!” he wrote, while hinting that this weekend’s slate of games could potentially do even better ratings.
ABC’s Week 8 schedule of games features three matchups of opponents all ranked in the top 20 — No. 10 LSU at No. 17 Vanderbilt (noon ET), No. 5 Ole Miss at No. 9 Georgia (3:30 p.m. ET), and No. 11 Tennessee at No. 6 Alabama (7 p.m. ET).
ESPN’s slate is also packed with three highly anticipated games — No. 12 Georgia Tech at Duke (noon ET), No. 4 Texas A&M at Arkansas (3:30 p.m. ET), and No. 21 Texas at Kentucky (7 p.m. ET)
A five-time Sports Emmy Award winner, Herbstreit remains one of the most established and respected college football analysts in the country. However, while ESPN enjoyed some record-high numbers as a network, the same weekend also produced a messy optics moment for Herbstreit.
During “College GameDay’s” on-site show in Eugene (ahead of Oregon–Indiana), Herbstreit left the studio with more than an hour still to run to make the afternoon’s Red River Rivalry (Texas-Oklahoma) assignment in Dallas.
The exit — staged with a motorcycle escort, a jeep ride to the airport and continued on-the-move analysis from car/plane — ran live and intermittently suffered choppy audio and technical glitches. Some media outlets criticized ESPN’s execution.
Read More: Penn State Expected to Swing Big on Surprising Name to Replace James Franklin
Read More: Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs Receive Head-Turning Projection After Lions Win
ESPN announced “College GameDay” will be in Athens for Week 8 to cover Ole Miss at Georgia, with the regular “GameDay” crew scheduled to appear on-site for the SEC showdown.
However, the weekend’s national slate includes several other consequential matchups that could affect the College Football Playoff picture. This includes the LSU-Vanderbilt and Tennessee-Alabama matchups, plus others including No. 20 USC vs. No. 13 Notre Dame and No. 23 Utah vs. No. 15 BYU.
With another big weekend of college football about to kick off, headlined by Herbstreit, Pat McAfee and the rest of the “College GameDay” crew in Athens, the industry will watch closely to see whether ABC and ESPN can sustain the Week 7 surge.