While it was a complete blowout, a record number of people tuned in to watch No. 1 Indiana dominate No. 9 Alabama in the Rose Bowl last week.
The Rose Bowl drew 23.9 million viewers on Thursday, which made it the most-viewed College Football Playoff game in the 12-team era, ESPN announced on Monday. The game peaked at about 25.6 million viewers, too. That’s up roughly 13% from last season.
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By comparison, the other three College Football Playoff quarterfinal games last week all fell well short of 20 million viewers. Miami’s upset win over Ohio State on New Year’s Eve had 19 million viewers. Ole Miss’ win over Georgia had about 18.7 million viewers, and Oregon’s win over Texas Tech had just shy of 16 million viewers.
The game also beat last year’s national championship game significantly. Ohio State’s 34-23 win over Notre Dame averaged about 22.1 million viewers. Michigan’s win over Washington in 2024, when the College Football Playoff was still in a four-team format, had about 25 million viewers.
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After a rare scoreless opening period at the Rose Bowl, Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza and the Hoosiers put up 24 unanswered points to blow the game wide open on Thursday in Pasadena. Mendoza ended up throwing three touchdowns and only throwing two incompletions in the 38-3 win, which was the worst loss in Alabama’s postseason history. All three of his touchdowns were to different wide receivers, too, and both running backs Kaelon Black and Roman Hemby scored while combining for 188 rushing yards.
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Indiana, now 14-0 on the season, will take on No. 5 Oregon in the Peach Bowl in Georgia on Friday. A win there will send the Hoosiers to the national championship game for the first time in school history.
