Ole Miss’s 32-24 win over LSU didn’t just deliver a tense finish in Oxford. It also gave ESPN one of the biggest college football audiences of the season.
The ABC broadcast averaged 10.9 million viewers, according to ESPN, making it the most-watched game of the week. The number climbed to a peak of 13.7 million. ESPN said it was the eighth-highest-rated regular-season broadcast of the decade across its network family.
That matchup had the kind of buildup that tends to travel well on TV, and it paid off for the network. Ole Miss jumped out to a big lead before hanging on against LSU, with Lane Kiffin’s return to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium adding another layer to the night.
Elsewhere on Saturday, Alabama’s 50-36 win over Florida State drew 7 million viewers and peaked at 8 million. That game started later than scheduled and was delayed again just before halftime because of weather in the Tuscaloosa area. It eventually shifted from ABC to ESPN2 because of the Ole Miss-LSU broadcast.
Kentucky’s upset of Texas A&M at Kyle Field also pulled a strong audience, averaging 5.4 million viewers and peaking at 8.1 million. Georgia’s win at Arkansas on ABC brought in 4 million viewers, with a peak of 4.8 million. Clemson’s victory over North Carolina on ESPN, another game affected by weather, averaged 3.6 million viewers and peaked at 4.7 million.
Week 4 now brings another loaded slate, including Texas at Tennessee at noon, Ole Miss at Florida Louisville at noon, Oklahoma at Georgia at 3:30, and South Carolina at Alabama at 7:00.
In Other News...
Mario Craver Sends Clear Message As Texas A&M Faces LSU Test
Mario Cravers message this week was pretty straightforward: Texas A&M needs to clean up its offense and get back to executing at a higher level as LSU looms. The wide receiver spoke about the Aggies recent struggles and injuries, and he made it clear that the group cannot afford to let those issues snowball if it wants to stay on track in SEC play.
Craver also pointed to the importance of confidence for the younger players now being asked to handle bigger roles, which adds another layer to an already demanding matchup. LSUs defense brings the kind of physical test that can expose hesitation, and Texas A&M will need more than just effort to deal with it. For an offense trying to settle in, this feels like one of those games where every clean rep matters. [Read more 🡒]
Texas A&M Got Stuck With An LSU Road Problem Again
Texas A&M is heading back to Baton Rouge for another matchup with LSU, and this time it is the SECs new scheduling format that set up the repeat trip. With the league moving to a nine-game conference schedule and dropping divisions, each team was assigned three permanent opponents, and LSU is one of Texas A&Ms fixed cross-division rivals.
For the Aggies, the result is a familiar inconvenience: another road game against one of the SECs toughest environments in consecutive seasons. It is the kind of schedule quirk that can matter over time, especially when a team keeps finding itself on the wrong side of the rotation and trying to handle the kind of test that comes with playing LSU away from home. [Read more 🡒]
Texas A&M Faces A Big Offensive Question Ahead Of LSU
Texas A&Ms Week 4 depth chart delivered one of the biggest hints yet about how the Aggies will have to reshape their offense heading into a tough road trip to LSU. The matchup lands Saturday night at Tiger Stadium, with kickoff set for 6:30 p.m. CT on ABC, and the timing is not ideal for a team still sorting out what comes next after a key injury.
Terry Bussey will miss the remainder of the 2026 season after getting hurt against Kentucky, leaving Texas A&M with a clear absence to manage at receiver. The Aggies now have to build around that loss on a short week, and the depth chart is the first public sign of how theyre planning to adjust before one of the SECs most demanding stages. [Read more 🡒]