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SportsMediaWatch.com compiled the viewing numbers across all the 2014-2015 bowl games, and shocking no one, y'all watch a helluva lot of college football. WELL DONE, TEAM.
| Bowl | Match-up | # of Viewers |
| National Championship | Ohio State vs. Oregon | 34.15M |
| Sugar Bowl (Semifinal) | Ohio State vs. Alabama | 28.27M |
| Rose Bowl (Semifinal) | Oregon vs. Florida State | 28.16M |
| Cotton Bowl | Michigan State vs. Baylor | 9.09M |
| Orange Bowl | Georgia Tech vs. Mississippi State | 8.94M |
| Fiesta Bowl | Boise State vs. Arizona | 7.41M |
| Holiday Bowl | USC vs. Nebraska | 6.80M |
| Outback Bowl | Wisconsin vs. Auburn | 6.42M |
| Belk Bowl | Georgia vs. Louisville | 6.41M |
| Citrus Bowl | Missouri vs. Minnesota | 5.98M |
| Texas Bowl | Arkansas vs. Texas | 5.76M |
| Alamo Bowl | UCLA vs. Kansas State | 5.60M |
| Music City Bowl | Notre Dame vs. LSU | 5.32M |
| Peach Bowl | TCU vs. Ole Miss | 5.01M |
| Russell Athletic Bowl | Clemson vs. Oklahoma | 4.90M |
| Birmingham Bowl | Florida vs. ECU | 4.48M |
| Gator Bowl | Tennessee vs. Iowa | 4.11M |
| Independence Bowl | South Carolina vs. Miami (FL) | 4.11M |
| Cactus Bowl | Oklahoma State vs. Washington | 4.03M |
| Pinstripe Bowl | Penn State vs. Boston College | 3.96M |
| Liberty Bowl | Texas A&M vs. West Virginia | 3.30M |
| San Francisco Bowl | Stanford vs. Maryland | 3.24M |
| St. Petersburg Bowl | NC State vs. UCF | 3.27M |
| Military Bowl | Virginia Tech vs. Cincinnati | 2.92M |
| Quick Lane Bowl | Rutgers vs. UNC | 2.87M |
| Poinsettia Bowl | Navy vs. San Diego State | 2.46M |
| New Orleans Bowl | UL-Lafayette vs. Nevada | 2.25M |
| Heart of Dallas Bowl | Louisiana Tech vs. Illinois | 2.34M |
| Armed Forces Bowl | Houston vs. Pittsburgh | 2.11M |
| Boca Raton Bowl | Marshall vs. Northern Illinois | 2.25M |
| Las Vegas Bowl | Utah vs. Colorado State | 2.12M |
| New Mexico Bowl | Utah State vs. UTEP | 1.92M |
| Hawaii Bowl | Rice vs. Fresno State | 1.91M |
| Bahamas Bowl | Western Kentucky vs. Central Michigan | 1.50M |
| Potato Bowl | Air Force vs. Western Michigan | 1.45M |
| GoDaddy Bowl | Toledo vs. Arkansas State | 1.37M |
| Miami Beach Bowl | Memphis vs. BYU | 1.32M |
| Camellia Bowl | Bowling Green vs. South Alabama | 1.11M |
Some ruminations:
- The common take that there are "way too many bowl games" doesn't hold water when you look at TV numbers. Even the "bad" bowl games are a nice boon for ESPN. Anything over a couple million for some weekday live programming ain't shabby at all.
- Big shocker - the playoff is a BEAST. Three games all hovering around 30 million viewers each. If the stooges in suits expand this thing, this will be the impetus.
- The "BCS" bowls that were not part of this year's playoff saw drops in their numbers. This makes some sense as they've been marginalized. I had to think for a couple beats about who won the Mississippi State-Georgia Tech game that happened just a couple weeks ago in the "prestigious" Orange Bowl.
- It's easy to miss that Texas A&M-West Virginia number in the shuffle. Looks relatively paltry, doesn't it? Don't forget - this game was played in the middle of what was a workday for most Americans. To give 3.3 million viewers some context, this figure is right around what many primetime MLB playoff games get. Kind of staggering for the little ol' Liberty Bowl. It was also the bowl's highest number in four years.
People really, really like watching college football. God bless 'em for it.
What figures stick out to you?