Despite criticism for first-round blowouts, the CFP had massive viewership

The College Football Playoffs have been criticized for their first-round blowout games. Clemson was, of course, one of those games. However, the Tigers made it a game in the second half, which is more than the other losers could say.

Regardless, the fans and media members voice their displeasure on social media, ranting about seedings, the expanded playoffs, etc., and even starting a civil war at ESPN. But the viewership tells a different story.

The first round of the CFP was a hit, especially on ESPN. Stweart Mandel of the Athletic posted on X (former Twitter) that the Ohio St-Tennessee game reached 14.3 million viewers. Losing 42-17 with that many people watching has to be quite an embarrassment for the Vols.

The other game on ESPN was Notre Dame-Indiana, the first of the four. It reached 13.4 million viewers on Friday night and was the second-highest-viewed game of the first round. Mandel gave context to the numbers, writing, "The Ohio State-Tennessee game did about the same TV audience as last year's UConn-Purdue men's basketball championship game (14.8M)."

TNT's games were significantly less successful yet still highly viewed. Clemson-Texas came in third with 8.6 million viewers, and Penn St-SMU was last with 6.4 million. It was the most-watched college game on the network since the 1996 Carquest Bowl.