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Saturday SEC football has become must-see TV. Sure enough, the much-anticipated top 25 battles between the Georgia Bulldogs and Texas Longhorns plus Alabama-Tennessee drew hordes of viewers in. The SEC doubleheader even shattered a new milestone for ABC.
The Georgia football team's 30-15 road upset over No. 1 Texas and Alabama's stunning 24-17 defeat at the hands of No. 7 Tennessee each surpassed 10 million viewers, via ESPN PR. The last time that occurred was nearly 30 years ago.
Both games involved major college football playoff implications. Georgia, winners of two national titles under head coach Kirby Smart, remained in the playoff picture by dismantling Texas. Meanwhile, Tennessee damaged the Crimson Tide's hopes of making the new 12-team playoff format by handing Alabama its second loss.
Which game drew the higher viewership?
The battle in Austin made additional history per the Nielsen ratings.
Georgia's upset of the previous top-ranked Longhorns lured in 12.9 million viewers and peaked at 14.1 million total, making it the biggest audience for a regular season televised game since 2016, via Loree Seitz of Yahoo Sports.
The heavyweight battle inside Darnell K. Royal Stadium was filled with twists, turns, and touchdowns. The underdog Bulldogs leaped to a 23-0 halftime lead that left the Texas fans stunned. But, the Longhorns responded with outscoring Georgia 15-0 in the third quarter until the Bulldogs' Trevor Etienne scored the final touchdown with 12:04 left in the fourth.
Etienne delivered the hat trick by scoring three times, all inside the Texas red zone. He and kicker Peyton Woodring handled the scoring for the Bulldogs, with the latter hitting three field goals of 33, 48 and 44 yards.
Georgia defensively delivered an astonishing seven sacks of both Quinn Ewers and Arch Manning, with Jalon Walker leading the charge with three. Ewers also got intercepted by Daylen Everette. Georgia's romp moved the Bulldogs three spots up to No. 2 in the latest NCAA College Football rankings.
Alabama versus Tennessee was its own record breaker for views. That contest in Knoxville drew 10.7 million viewers and peaked at 14.7 million. That makes ‘Bama/Tennessee the second most-watched matchup between both schools to date.
The Volunteers even had to shake off a slow first half start. Alabama took a 7-0 lead into halftime before Tennessee outscored the Crimson Tide 14-3 in the third. Alabama briefly retook the lead 17-14 off a Justice Hayes seven-yard scoring run. However, Chris Brazzell II put Tennessee ahead for good on his 16-yard touchdown catch via Nico Iamaleavea with 5:52 left.
Tennessee's win additionally completed revenge from last year's 34-20 loss in Tuscaloosa. But the Volunteers have now won two of the last three meetings against Alabama. Before the 2022 shootout win in Knoxville, the Vols previously lost 15 in a row to the Crimson Tide.
Georgia and Tennessee have now cemented itself as the front runners in an always loaded SEC. Both teams will eventually meet one another, as the Volunteers will travel to Athens, Georgia on Nov. 16 with SEC title game implications likely at stake.
