Notre Dame vs Northern Illinois Draws Huge NBC TV Rating

Irish interest piqued after the huge SEC Week1 win

Notre Dame wide receiver Jaden Greathouse, right, drops a catch with Northern Illinois defensive back Jashon Prophete chasing during a NCAA college football game between Notre Dame and Northern Illinois at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in South Bend. | Michael Clubb / USA TODAY NETWORK

Notre Dame's TV numbers were massive, but the play was suspect

After Notre Dame's massive Week 1 SEC win over Texas A&M which raised the Irish's AP poll ranking up to number 5, the Irish logged mega NBC TV numbers for the first home telecast of the season for the matchup with the Huskies.

Unfortunately for the Irish faithful, Notre Dame suffered a sloppy loss at the hands of Northern Illinois, who played better than the Irish and earned the win.

Notre Dame's game against the non "brand-name" opponent Northern Illinois had the 3rd most viewers of any game in the country with over 3.9 million views. The only games that had larger audiences were Colorado vs Nebraska and Texas vs Michigan.

Top 10 most-watched games of Week 2 College Football 📺

1. Texas at Michigan - 9.35M
2. Colorado at Nebraska - 6.3M
3. NIU at Notre Dame - 3.9M
4. Tennessee vs. NC State - 2.95M
5. Arkansas at Oklahoma St. - 2.79M
6. South Carolina at Kentucky - 2.72M
7. USF at Alabama - 2.58M…

— College Football Overtime (@CFB_Overtime) September 13, 2024

Why were the numbers so high for a game against a Mac team?

Even though this game did not feature a traditional brand name opponent, this was the fans' first opportunity to see Notre Dame play on their home field for 2024. This alone certainly drew in some viewers eager for the sights and sounds of Notre Dame's campus and stadium after a 10-month layoff.

But most obviously though, Notre Dame entered this game as a top 5 team coming off a hugely important and dramatic win the week before. Irish fans were excited for this moment.

They had the feeling this year was going to be different. And then the game happened. There's never a dull moment in Notre Dame land folks.

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