Athletic article (paywall) evaluates top rating schools

[Buckaineer]

They've done a chart showing the schools that had over a million viewers and the most number of games with that number at least since 2015 (excluding the skewed 2020 Covid season) that did NOT include games against schools that will be in the B1G or SEC or against Notre Dame (so in the BIG 12 no OU or UT games included, just the other games that garnered over 1 million viewers.

Staples: The realignment battle for No. 1 — and for No. 3 — is made for TV

As the Pac-12 deals with losing UCLA and USC to the Big Ten and the Big 12 explores a raid on the Pac-12, audience data can be instructive.

theathletic.com

Here's what they said about the BIG 12 acquiring PAC schools based on this information.

Excerpt:

The ratings offer a fascinating window into the dynamics at play in the Big 12 and Pac-12. According to the audience numbers, Oregon and Washington are the two most bankable brands among those two leagues. Our list of one-million-viewer games shows a surprising affinity for Washington State (21 games — one behind Miami), but otherwise, there really isn’t much difference between the group of schools remaining in the Pac-12 and the group of schools that will make up the Big 12 after Oklahoma and Texas leave.


So if the Big Ten decided it wanted to go west again and snag Oregon and Washington, the Big 12 would be in prime position to scoop up the best that remains of the Pac-12. But even if the Big Ten decides to hold at 16 for now, the Big 12 still could use this information to its advantage. It could show Oregon and Washington that schools such as Baylor, BYU, Cincinnati, Oklahoma State and TCU produce comparable or better numbers than the group Oregon and Washington would have to prop up in the Pac-12. Or it could make that same pitch to Colorado and Utah, attacking the middle of the Pac-12 — from a brand standpoint — with the hope that losing it would force the Ducks and Huskies to make a move. And while few of the projections have suggested Washington State as a target, perhaps the Cougars should be. They seem to play games viewers find interesting. Their median audience in 39 rated games was 1.5 million viewers. Take away six rated games against USC and UCLA, and the Cougars’ median audience remains 1.5 million viewers.

NOTE: WVU and TCU TIED in their chart both with 14 games at over 1 million viewers not including OU or UT.

 

[Buckaineer]

Here is the chart:

excerpt—

So which teams cracked a million the most? Two ACC teams, followed by two Pac-12 schools.

GAMES	TEAMS
34	Clemson
31	Florida State
28	Washington
26	Oregon
22	Miami
21	Washington State
19	Oklahoma State, Utah
18	Louisville, Stanford
16	North Carolina
15	Baylor, Colorado, Virginia Tech
14	TCU, West Virginia
13	Arizona State, Boise State
12	BYU, Cal, Pittsburgh
11	Cincinnati, NC State
10	Syracuse
9	Texas Tech, UCF, Virginia
8	Houston, USF, Wake Forest
7	Army, Boston College, Iowa State, Navy
6	Arizona, Georgia Tech, Memphis
5	Duke
4	Kansas State, SMU, Temple
3	Oregon State
2	Air Force, Colorado State, Kansas, Marshall, Tulsa, UConn, Utah State
1	1: Alcorn State, Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, FAU, Kent State, N.C. Central, Rice, San Diego State, Nevada, Tulane

 

[Buckaineer]

Looking at the ACC schools- they are given credit for playing top brands FSU and/or Clemson, whereas the top two raters from the BIG 12 have been removed.

so that skews the results more than a bit. You’d have to see how BIG 12 schools rated against programs drawing OU, UT, Clemson level ratings for a more accurate picture of how BIG 12 schools going forward will rate because undoubtedly they’ll still play some high rating programs— and since the remaining and added BIG 12 schools are going to be featured more one would expect higher ratings than previously for some if not all.

or take out the top rafters Clemson and FSU and see how a similarly positioned ACC matchup rates compared to a BIG 12 one without OU or UT.

For example, last years BIG 12 CCG pitting Baylor against OK State had a 4.8 rating and 8.021M viewers compared to Pitt/Wake in the ACC CCG which only garnered a 1.5 rating and had just 2.661M viewers. The PAC CCG with Utah/Oregon had a 2.5 rating with 4.247M viewers in comparison.

 

[Butler-eer]

Surprised me that WVU is tied for 3rd in the B12.