College Football TV Ratings: North Carolina vs. TCU draws 4.9 million viewers in Week 0
NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...
To start his second year as North Carolina head coach, Bill Belichick got a signature win over TCU. The matchup in Ireland also brought strong TV ratings to kick off the 2026 college football season, ESPN announced.
UNC’s victory in Dublin averaged 4.9 million viewers on ESPN, the network said Tuesday evening. That includes a peak audience of 5.8 million viewers to make it the second most-watched Week 0 game since 2019. It’s important to note last year’s Dublin game, which averaged 3.2 million, was just before Nielsen implemented its Big Data + Panel metric to measure viewership.
$19.99 gets you a FULL year of On3 | Rivals national coverage
Still, Saturday’s game was the most-watched game of the week, ESPN said. Full viewership data for Week 0 was not yet available at the time of publication, but the network also had a strong showing in the afternoon slot.
UNC and TCU sat tied at 10-10 after the first quarter on a rainy day in Ireland. It turned into a grind-it-out affair, which the Tar Heels held on to win 15-10 for a big-time win under Belichick. Billy Edwards Jr. went 16 of 28 for 232 yards in the effort and Jelani Thurman hauled in four catches for 94 yards to lead UNC.
More college football TV ratings from Week 0
Despite a blowout, Virginia’s win over NC State led the afternoon with 3.2 million viewers. Viewership peaked at 3.2 million as the Cavaliers, led by transfer quarterback Beau Pribula, cruised past the Wolfpack 34-8 in Charlottesville.
ESPN also announced the MEAC/SWAC Challenge Kickoff between Howard and Alabama A&M brought 1.2 million viewers on average with a peak audience of 1.7 million. The Bison’s win over the Bulldogs became the second most-watched MEAC/SWAC Challenge Kickoff game ever behind the 2024 game.
Week 0 was the appetizer for the full slate that awaits in Week 1. With it, college football will look to build on its TV ratings success from a season ago, which saw ABC emerge as the big winner wiht its best season since 2006.
SUBSCRIBE to the On3 NIL and Sports Business Newsletter
ABC had seven of the 10 most-watched games of the regular season while FOX held the top two spots with Ohio State vs. Michigan and Ohio State vs. Texas. All told, college football saw a 4% uptick in TV ratings last season.
Week 1 will finally see teams take the field after a slew of storylines emerged off the field this offseason. One of the biggest games of the year awaits Saturday night, as well, as LSU welcomes Clemson in primetime.
More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos