Meanwhile, ABC’s Saturday Night Football had its own share of ratings success with six of the top seven rated contests this season. The network averaged 8.2 million viewers and a 5.0 household rating for its eleven primetime broadcasts in 2008, up 29% over last year.

The top ten rated games were also dominated by BIG 12 Conference matchups, with seven of the top nine broadcasts this year. Notably, the annual Red River Rivalry between Texas and Oklahoma was the ninth highest rated broadcast of the 2008 season, despite its early 12PM ET start time.

Local Ratings
An analysis of local markets reveals that the University of Alabama had the highest local ratings of any BCS team in a metered market. On average, 40.1% of the Birmingham market tuned in to Crimson Tide games this year, for an average local audience of 296,000 households.

Up north, Columbus, OH upheld its reputation as one of the most sports-obsessed U.S. cities, with an impressive 32.1% of the market – or an average of 295,000 households – tuning in to Ohio State Buckeye games.

The top-ranked Oklahoma Sooners pulled a booming 32.1% of the Oklahoma City market, good for 220,000 households.

**University located within Diary Market; nearest Metered Market substituted.
Click here for the 56 Metered Markets and Universe Estimates

Heisman Trophy Preview
One of sports’ most storied trophies will be awarded on Saturday at Manhattan’s Downtown Athletic Club. The Heisman finalists are a trio of QB’s- Florida’s Tim Tebow, Texas’ Colt McCoy, and Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford – who starred in front of large television audiences this season, including six of the highest rated national games in 2008. Tebow will attempt to repeat last year’s victory, and become only the second player in history to win two Heisman trophies. Last year’s broadcast on ESPN was watched by 4.3 million viewers, the most for the ceremony this decade.

College Football: Quartet Of Upsets
Oregon State’s stunning upset of top ranked USC was only the harbinger of what was to come in a wild weekend of college football upsets. 

Oregon State’s victory last Thursday night drew 6.3 Million TV viewers, the largest audience for ESPN’s Thursday Night College Football this season.  The next day, the University of Michigan overcame a 19-point deficit to beat the (then) undefeated Wisconsin Badgers in front of 1.3 million ESPN viewers.

Meanwhile, the Southeastern Conference lived up to its billing as the most competitive in the nation, delivering two thrilling upsets in one night: Ole Miss topped the Florida Gators by one point, followed by the Alabama Crimson Tide’s defeat of the Georgia Bulldogs — watched by 6.7 million ESPN viewers. 

A ranking of this season’s most watched college football games, to date, is below.

Goodbye, Shea Stadium
Mets fans who hoped Shea Stadium would receive an October farewell were denied on the final day of this year’s baseball season — for the second consecutive year.  806,000 New York viewers, the largest audience for the Mets this season, watched Shea’s sad ending on Sunday.  Next year, the Mets will move next door, to Citi Field.

Chicago: Double Baseball Trouble
Neither New York team made it to the playoffs this year, but for the first time in more than a century, both Chicago teams are in the post-season.  The White Sox’ defeat of the Detroit Tigers drew 451,000 Chicago viewers.  The next day, the Sox’ tie-breaker victory over the Minnesota Twins nearly doubled its Chicago TV audience — to 750,000 viewers — setting a new record in the process.