Ahead of Monday’s College Football Playoff national championship, Nielsen has released TV ratings data for Indiana and Miami. So far, the Hoosiers have been the bigger draw.

Indiana is averaging 6.648 million viewers through the regular season and CFP semifinals, according to Nielsen Big Data + Panel data. Miami, meanwhile, is averaging 5.588 million viewers.

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Of note: Miami’s regular-season games on ACC Network are not part of Nielsen’s data. The network does not pay for Nielsen viewership.

The Hoosiers have played in two of the four most-watched games of the College Football Playoff so far. The Rose Bowl led that charge as IU cruised past Alabama in front of 23.9 million viewers on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU. That made it the most-watched CFP game of the 12-team era and the fourth-most watched Rose Bowl on record.

The Big Ten Championship also drew record viewership as Indiana took down Ohio State. An average of 18.3 million people tuned in for IU’s thrilling victory, making it the most-watched Big Ten title game on record. It also topped the SEC Championship as the top-rated game of conference championship weekend.

Miami’s Cotton Bowl victory over Ohio State also drew strong viewership, averaging 19.0 million viewers on New Year’s Eve. It’s the second-most watched game of this year’s College Football Playoff, behind only the Rose Bowl.

Dating back to the regular season, the Hurricanes’ Week 1 win over Notre Dame was among the most-watched games of the year with 10.8 million people watching. That victory proved crucial for Mario Cristobal’s group because it gave Miami the head-to-head advantage over Notre Dame, and the Fighting Irish ultimately missed the CFP since the Hurricanes were the last team in the field.

A closer look at CFP TV Ratings

Heading into the College Football Playoff national championship, TV ratings are on par with last year’s 12-team bracket, ESPN said this week. Quarterfinal viewership was up, but semifinal ratings saw a dip from last season.

The Peach Bowl between Indiana and Oregon led the charge Jan. 9, averaging 18.0 million viewers and peaking at 21.4 million viewers. That followed the Fiesta Bowl between Miami and Ole Miss, which brought in 15.8 million viewers – peaking at 17.2 million – Jan. 8 on ESPN.

The Peach Bowl was down from the Cotton Bowl between Ohio State vs. Texas in 2024-25, which averaged 20.6 million viewers in the Friday night window. The Fiesta Bowl also saw a decrease from the 17.8 million people who tuned in for last year’s Thursday game as Notre Dame took down Penn State in the Orange Bowl.

College Football Playoff viewership increased 14% heading into the semifinals, fueled by strong quarterfinal round TV ratings. Following the semifinal round, the CFP is averaging 14.9 million viewers.