Wisconsin football pulled off an impressive TV feat despite the World Series

The Wisconsin football team was impressive in so many ways against USC, but one of the more under-the-radar ways was the TV audience. Truly, just the number of people who had their eyes on Wisconsin was incredible, whether in person or on TV. Wisconsin vs. USC was one of the most-watched college football games of the week on Saturday. That feat, in conjunction with the World Series pulling eyes away, is extraordinary.

Wisconsin vs. Notre Dame was a huge pull way back in Week 1, and then Wisconsin went dark, going to Big Ten Network or Peacock for the next four weeks. It kept their numbers super inflated and gave Wisconsin a "top-viewed" team mark week after week, even though there was no new data since Week 1. So, no one really knew how many cared about Wisconsin football because Nielsen wasn't keeping track of those networks.

Combine that with the fact that attendance wasn't all that strong at Camp Randall, which is part of a larger trend in the Luke Fickell era. There was pessimism that Wisconsin's Week 1 number was either due to the scheduling, Notre Dame, or simply what happens in Week 1. Yet, lately, Wisconsin has come out of the dark, and the numbers continue to be impressive.

Wisconsin's TV ratings continue to be high and networks are clamoring for the big games

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Wisconsin's game against UCLA was the first real opportunity to see Nielsen ratings again. It was a prime-time game on NBC/Peacock, and the ratings flew up the charts. That game brought in 2.2 million people and was the 11th most-watched football game of the week. Both UCLA and Wisconsin are trying to recover their prowess, and most of those numbers are probably either primetime football viewers or true fans of either program.

Now, the big test would be the Wisconsin vs. USC game. Why? Well, that game was going up against the World Series. The in-state MLB team, the Milwaukee Brewers, would be playing at the same time as Wisconsin. But also, the World Series tends to pull other eyeballs away from sporting events anyway. So the casual sports fan may choose the World Series over a "random" football game.

Yet, Wisconsin football once again proved to be a big brand. It started with the in-person attendance at Camp Randall, which was north of 70k fans. That's impressive considering recent attendance data and the World Series. But the TV numbers were also super strong. The Badgers vs. Trojans pulled in 1.9 million viewers. This was the seventh most-watched game of the week.

Sure, it's less than the UCLA game, but considering the obstacles in Wisconsin football's way and the overall drop in viewership for college football that week, the Badgers put up a really strong showing. Then they went on and gave the fans watching a real fun ride, beating the Trojans and letting the fans storm the field. Now, the Badgers are back on Fox and are the Big Noon game; it seems as if networks are eager to get Wisconsin on the channel. Some of it is key matchups and rivalries, but some of it is the fact that the Wisconsin brand remains strong.

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