Eyes on IU: Big Ten Championship game drew record viewership

There were a lot of eyes directing their gaze at Indiana’s historic 13-10 win over Ohio State.

The 2025 Discover Big Ten Football Championship Game drew 18,332,000 viewers Saturday evening on FOX, the conference said Wednesday via release.

It was the most-watched college football conference championship game of all time. At the broadcast’s peak, 19,993,000 viewers witnessed Indiana capture the program’s first Big Ten championship in 58 years.

With Saturday’s historic viewership, the Big Ten Conference is now home to the top three most watched college football games this season. In August, 16.62 million viewers watched Ohio State defeat Texas, 14-7, in Columbus.

Ohio State’s 27-9 win against Michigan was the most-watched game of the 2025 college football regular season, drawing an average of 18.4 million viewers and making this year’s edition of “The Game” the second-most-watched college football game ever on FOX.

Indiana, Ohio State and Oregon will continue their season in the 12-team College Football Playoff. The undefeated Hoosiers were ranked No. 1 by the College Football Playoff selection committee and clinched one of four first-round byes. Indiana will face the winner of No. 9 Alabama vs. No. 8 Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1 at 4 p.m. ET at Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, Calif.

The Buckeyes were ranked No. 2 by the committee and earned a first-round bye to the quarterfinals. Ohio State will face the winner of No. 10 Miami vs. No. 7 Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl Classic on Dec. 31 at 7:30 p.m. ET at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

The Ducks earned a No. 5 ranking and will host No. 12 seed JMU in a first-round game at Autzen Stadium. The game will kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Dec. 20 and will be televised by TNT. A win would send Oregon to the Orange Bowl against Texas Tech on Jan. 1 at noon ET at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.