College football is a sport unlike any other. That singularity manifests itself in TV ratings.
Only in college football would a semifinal out-rate a championship game. Only in college football would more people tune in for a regular season game than a semifinal.
Such was the case for this sport in 2023, though, where more people tuned in to watch Michigan out-last Alabama than to see the Wolverines lift the trophy a week later.
It's fitting, though, that Michigan and Alabama shared the TV championship, because the Wolverines and the Crimson Tide were the nation's favorite teams to watch this fall.
The Wolverines starred in, and won, the three most-watched games of the season, as well as four of the top eight and five of the top 15. From Sept. 30 on, a median of 5.43 million people tuned in to watch Michigan each week.
Alabama actually played in more highly-rated games, with 11 of their 14 contests among the top 90 of the season. Thirty games attracted an audience of at least 7 million in 2023; the Tide played in seven of them.
The 27.76 million-strong audience they shared created the most-watched Rose Bowl since the Oregon-Florida State game of 2015, the first contest of the College Football Playoff era. Overall, it was the most-watched college football game since the Alabama-Georgia title game of the 2017 season.
After ranking the top 50 games of the regular season, FootballScoop as promised now ranks the top 100 (101, really) games of the entire 2023 college football season.
Appearances by program:
11 -- Alabama
10 -- Georgia
9 -- Michigan, Ohio State
8 -- Florida State, Washington
7 -- Colorado, Notre Dame, Penn State, Texas
Appearances by conference (2024 alignment):
SEC -- 66
Big Ten -- 65
ACC -- 26
Big 12 -- 24
Mountain West/Pac-2 -- 6
American -- 6
Conference USA -- 1
ABC aired the most games on the list, despite ESPN owning almost all the postseason. (Sixteen bowl games cracked the top 101; 13 aired on ESPN or ESPN2.) As the Playoff enters into negotiations for the next round of television contracts, College Football Playoff leaders are doing the sport is a disservice by siloing games onto cable.
Appearances by network:
ABC -- 27
ESPN -- 23
Fox -- 22
CBS -- 20
NBC -- 8
ESPN2 -- 1
The top 100:
1. Michigan-Alabama, Rose Bowl -- 27.76 million (ESPN)
2. Michigan-Washington, CFP National Championship -- 25.05 million (ESPN)
3. Ohio State-Michigan -- 19.07 million (Fox)
4. Washington-Texas, Sugar Bowl -- 18.77 million (ESPN)
5. Georgia-Alabama, SEC Championship -- 17.52 million (CBS)
6. Florida State-Georgia, Orange Bowl -- 10.39 million (ESPN)
7. Colorado-Oregon -- 10.03 million (ABC)
8. Michigan-Iowa, Big Ten Championship -- 10.02 million (Fox)
9. Ohio State-Notre Dame -- 9.98 million (NBC)
10. Penn State-Ohio State -- 9.96 million (Fox)
11. Ohio State-Missouri, Cotton Bowl -- 9.72 million (ESPN)
12. Colorado State-Colorado -- 9.3 million (ESPN)
13. Oregon-Washington, Pac-12 Championship -- 9.25 million (ABC)
14. LSU-Florida State -- 9.17 million (ABC)
15. Michigan-Penn State -- 9.16 million (Fox)
16. Alabama-Auburn -- 9.09 million (CBS)
17. LSU-Alabama -- 8.82 million (CBS)
18. Texas-Alabama -- 8.76 million (ESPN)
19. Nebraska-Colorado -- 8.73 million (Fox)
20. Tennessee-Alabama -- 8.01 million (CBS)
21. Oklahoma State-Texas, Big 12 Championship -- 7.89 million (ABC)
22. Oklahoma-Texas -- 7.87 million (ABC)
23. Ole Miss-Penn State, Peach Bowl -- 7.77 million (ESPN)
24. Colorado-TCU -- 7.26 million (Fox)
25. USC-Colorado -- 7.24 million (Fox)
26. Alabama-Texas A&M -- 7.23 million (CBS)
27. Army-Navy -- 7.18 million (CBS)
28. Oregon-Washington -- 7.04 million (ABC)
29. Louisville-Florida State, ACC Championship -- 7.03 million (ABC)
30. Missouri-Georgia -- 7 million (CBS)
31. Tennessee-Iowa, Citrus Bowl -- 6.80 million (ABC)
32. Florida State-Clemson -- 6.71 million (ABC)
33. USC-Notre Dame -- 6.43 million (NBC)
34. Georgia-Auburn -- 6.40 million (CBS)
35. Georgia-Florida -- 5.95 million (CBS)
36. Washington State-Washington -- 5.85 million (Fox)
37. Georgia-Tennessee -- 5.73 million (CBS)
38. Michigan-Maryland -- 5.43 million (Fox)
39. South Carolina-Georgia -- 5.42 million (CBS)
40. Georgia-Georgia Tech -- 5.33 million (ABC)
41. Notre Dame-Duke -- 5.32 million (ABC)
42. Tennessee-Florida -- 5.31 million (ESPN)
43. Utah-Washington -- 5.17 million (Fox)
44. Notre Dame-Louisville -- 5.12 million (ABC)
45. Florida State-Florida -- 5.07 million (ESPN)
46. Ohio State-Wisconsin -- 4.87 million (NBC)
47. Alabama-South Florida -- 4.84 million (ABC)
48. Ole Miss-Georgia -- 4.83 million (ESPN)
49. Washington-Oregon State -- 4.73 million (ABC)
50. Oregon-Liberty, Fiesta Bowl -- 4.67 million (ESPN)
51. Colorado-UCLA -- 4.66 million (ABC)
52. Ohio State-Indiana -- 4.65 million (Fox)
53. LSU-Wisconsin, ReliaQuest Bowl -- 4.61 million (ESPN2)
53. Ole Miss-Alabama -- 4.61 million (CBS)
55. Maryland-Ohio State -- 4.51 million (Fox)
56. Michigan-Nebraska -- 4.48 million (Fox)
57. Washington-USC -- 4.45 million (ABC)
58. Clemson-Duke -- 4.39 million (ESPN)
58. Iowa-Nebraska -- 4.39 million (CBS)
60. Texas A&M-Tennessee -- 4.38 million (CBS)
61. Kansas State-NC State, Pop-Tarts Bowl -- 4.31 million (ESPN)
62. Miami-Florida State -- 4.14 million (ABC)
63. Oregon State-Oregon -- 4.12 million (Fox)
64. Missouri-Arkansas -- 4.09 million (CBS)
65. Duke-Florida State -- 4.08 million (ABC)
66. Texas A&M-Miami -- 4.02 million (ABC)
67. Ohio State-Rutgers -- 3.96 million (CBS)
68. Oklahoma-Arizona, Alamo Bowl -- 3.93 million (ESPN)
69. West Virginia-North Carolina, Mayo Bowl -- 3.84 million (ESPN)
70. Texas Tech-Texas -- 3.77 million (ABC)
71. Oklahoma-Oklahoma State -- 3.76 million (ABC)
72. Michigan-Michigan State -- 3.73 million (NBC)
72. LSU-Ole Miss -- 3.72 million (ESPN)
74. Tennessee-Missouri -- 3.62 million (CBS)
75. Memphis-Iowa State, Liberty Bowl -- 3.60 million (ESPN)
75. Oklahoma-Kansas -- 3.60 million (ABC)
77. Michigan State-Ohio State -- 3.57 million (NBC)
78. Navy-Notre Dame -- 3.56 million (NBC)
79. Indiana-Michigan -- 3.55 million (Fox)
80. Louisville-USC, Holiday Bowl -- 3.51 million (Fox)
81. West Virginia-Penn State -- 3.50 million (NBC)
82. Nebraska-Minnesota -- 3.49 million (Fox)
83. Florida State-Boston College -- 3.48 million (ABC)
84. Clemson-Kentucky, Gator Bowl -- 3.43 million (ESPN)
84. Arkansas-Alabama -- 3.43 million (ESPN)
86. Indiana-Penn State -- 3.40 million (CBS)
86. North Carolina-South Carolina -- 3.40 million (ABC)
88. Penn State-Michigan State -- 3.38 million (NBC)
88. Iowa-Iowa State -- 3.38 million (Fox)
90. Alabama-Mississippi State -- 3.35 million (ESPN)
91. Kansas-Texas -- 3.32 million (ABC)
92. Iowa State-Kansas State -- 3.29 million (Fox)
92. Stanford-Colorado -- 3.29 million (ESPN)
94. Notre Dame-Oregon State, Sun Bowl -- 3.26 million (CBS)
95. Notre Dame-Clemson -- 3.24 million (ABC)
96. Utah-USC -- 3.23 million (ABC)
96. Oregon State-San Jose State -- 3.23 million (CBS)
98. Penn State-Illinois -- 3.22 million (Fox)
99. Rice-Texas -- 3.21 million (Fox)
100. Florida-Utah -- 3.19 million (Fox)
100. Kentucky-Georgia -- 3.19 million (ESPN)