Potential Reason Behind Surprisingly Low TV Ratings for USC vs. UCLA Rivalry Game

The USC Trojans defeated their crosstown rivals, the UCLA Bruins by a score of 29-10 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum last week. This win capped of a 9-3 win season for the Trojans. They will now await to hear what bowl game they will be heading to.

How many people tuned in on TV to watch USC vs. UCLA?

Iron Bowl Ratings Dwarf USC-UCLA

USC Trojans UCLA Bruins TV Ratings Rivalry Alabama Crimson Tide Auburn Tigers Michigan Wolverines Ohio State Buckeyes Riley — Auburn Tigers interim head coach DJ Durkin and Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer shake hands after the game as Auburn Tigers take on Alabama Crimson Tide in the Iron Bowl at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala. on Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. Alabama Crimson Tide defeated Auburn Tigers 27-20. | Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

An estimated 2.2 million viewers watched USC beat UCLA last Saturday. The game was in the primetime slot of 4:30 p.m. PT and was broadcast on NBC. A big reason for these ratings not being as high is that it was going to head to head with the Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers game on ABC. The “Iron Bowl” kicked off at the same time as USC’s game and drew 11.3 million viewers.

Even with the aspect of the rivalry between the two Los Angeles schools, the implications on the college football world were far less than that of Alabama-Auburn. Alabama entered the game as the No. 10 team in the country with their College Football Playoff hopes on the line. A loss and the Tide would almost certainly drop out of the projected playoff field. A win would get them on the right side of the bubble and also earn a spot in the SEC Championship game vs. the Georgia Bulldogs.

The Crimson Tide pulled out a dramatic 27-20 victory.

USC on the other hand was ranked No. 17 and were all but eliminated from playoff contention, win or lose. It ended up not being a top 10 most watched game of rivalry week. It didn't help that UCLA entered the game with a 3-8 record, deeming them bowl ineligible even if they were to pull off a big upset over USC.

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Highest Rated Games of Rivalry Week

While Alabama and Auburn drew an impressive 11.3 million ratings, there were still two other games during rivalry week that did better numbers. The most watched game, by a big number, was the matchup between the Ohio State Buckeyes and Michigan Wolverines with 18.4 million viewers.

“The Game” was on “Big Noon Kickoff” with a 9 a.m. PT start on FOX. The No. 1 ranked Buckeyes went on the road in the snow to Ann Arbor to take on arch rival Michigan. The Wolverines had beaten Ohio State four years in a row and had playoff chances of their own if they could upset the Buckeyes. Ohio State snapped the four-game losing streak to Michigan, winning 27-9.

The second highest rated game of the weekend was last Friday between the Texas A&M Aggies and Texas Longhorns. 13.0 million viewers tuned in to ABC for this Friday night matchup.