News/Commentary

Fan Interest In College Football Remains Intense

April 9, 2014 by CFP Staff and National Football Foundation

The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) released today four impressive facts from the 2013 college football season that emphasize the strong popularity of college football among millions of fans across the country, including:

  • Highest Attendance Figures in NCAA History: NCAA football attendance topped 50 million for the first time in 2013, including 1.7 million spectators for the bowl games.
  • Outstanding Television Viewership: More than 216 million viewers tuned in to watch the regular season with another 127 million watching the bowl games.
  • Major Networks See Increases in Viewership: ESPN on ABC averaged an impressive 4,777,000 viewers for its extensive schedule of games last year while ESPN averaged 2.6 million viewers, an increase of 3 percent over the previous season. Overall, ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPNEWS combined to reach more than 189 million viewers for game telecasts, averaging 1,865,000 viewers for 257 regular-season games. The SEC on CBS saw its best college football season since 2001, averaging 7.4 million viewers and a 4.5 rating, up 20 percent and 15 percent respectively from 2012, while FOX's average of 3.1 million viewers was a 10 percent increase.
  • Powerful Bowl Ratings: The VIZIO BCS National Championship on ESPN between Auburn and Florida State was the third-most viewed cable television program of all time, averaging 25.6 million viewers (only eclipsed by the 2010 and 2013 BCS National Championships with audiences of 27.3 million and 26.4 million, respectively.) The combined BCS "Megacast" pushed viewership over 26.1 million. The five BCS bowl games averaged 16.6 million viewers, up 9 percent from last year.

"The already intense interest in college football continues to grow," said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. "Embracing ever changing technology, the leaders of our sport have done a spectacular job in ensuring that the fan experience not only keeps pace but sets the standard in innovation. We are grateful to the conferences, bowl games and the media for their creativity and commitment in delivering a first-class product that allows fans to experience the game in every imaginable way."

College football attracted its highest attendance total ever with 50,291,275 fans turning out to watch a home, neutral-site or postseason game in 2013 at the 657 NCAA schools, according to the NCAA. The number represents a 3 percent increase from last year and breaks the mark of 49,699,419 set in 2011. The numbers symbolize a phenomenal increase of 163 percent from the 19,134,159 fans that the NCAA reported when they first started collecting attendance figures in 1948*. The SEC set an all-time record across all conferences of 7,567,406 fans in 2013, leading all FBS conferences in average attendance for the 16th consecutive year with 75,674 fans per game.

The 35 bowl games this season attracted 1,714,617 spectators to the stands (48,989 per contest), slightly less than the record mark of 1,813,215, which was set after the 2010 regular season, and 17 bowl games had crowds in excess of 50,000. Attendance at the final BCS games increased 3.2 percent this year with 397,106 fans attending the Rose, Sugar, Fiesta and Orange bowls and the BCS National Championship Game.

College football bowl game viewership across all networks also remained extremely strong, attracting 127 million viewers to television screens to watch the 35 bowl games and complimenting the more than 216 million people who tuned into the regular season.

Major network game packages all saw increases in viewership in 2013. The SEC on CBS saw its best college football season since 2001, averaging 7.4 million viewers and a 4.5 rating, up 20 percent and 15 percent respectively from 2012. ESPN on ABC averaged an impressive 4,777,000 viewers for its extensive schedule of games last year while ESPN averaged 2.6 million viewers, an increase of 3 percent over the previous season. FOX also had a significant increase in viewership, averaging 3.1 million viewers for a 10 percent increase over 2012.

The ESPN outlets alone reached more than 189 million viewers during the telecasts of its regular season games, and ESPN's presentation of the five BCS bowl games averaged 16,549,000 viewers, up 9 percent from last year.

The game has benefited enormously from the commitment of every major media sports outlet, including the Big Ten Network, BYUtv, CBS, CBS Sports Network, ESPN, ESPN on ABC, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3, FOX Sports, FOX Sports 1, FOX Sports 2, FOX College Sports, FOX Sports Net, FX, the Longhorn Network, NBC, NBC Sports Network, Pac-12 Network, and multiple regional and local outlets. Throughout the regular and bowl seasons these outlets continue to capitalize on college football's ever-increasing popularity to produce an increasingly dynamic product that engages fans on new levels.

Ranked among the most popular sports in the United States along with the National Football League and Major League Baseball, NCAA Football counts 162.6 million adults as fans** or 52 percent of all U.S. adults. Among adult college football fans, 61 percent are male and 39 percent female. Twelve percent are between the ages 18-24, 18 percent are 25-34, 19 percent are 35-44, 20 percent are 45-54, 16 percent are 55-64 and 16 percent are age 65 or over. Sixty-one percent have an annual household income of $50,000 or more, with 42 percent at $75,000 or more, and 25 percent at $100,000 or more. Thirty-two percent are college graduates and 61 percent are married, according to Scarborough Sports Marketing.

The growth trajectory for the sport appears likely to continue in the 2014 season. The FBS will increase to 128 teams, adding three FCS teams: Appalachian State, Georgia Southern and Old Dominion. The number of bowl games will increase to a record 39 contests with the addition of the Bahamas Bowl (Nassau, Bahamas), the Boca Raton Bowl (Boca Raton, Fla.), the Camellia Bowl (Montgomery, Ala.) and the Miami Beach Bowl (Miami, Fla.). And the BCS system will be replaced with the College Football Playoff, an exciting new format which will be the top four teams in the nation against each other to determine the national champion in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

Regular Season Attendance Highlights

  • NCAA football attendance 50 million for the first time in 2013, as the 657 football programs in the NCAA drew 50,291,275 fans at home games, neutral-site games and postseason games. The figure breaks the mark of 49,699,419 set in 2011.
  • The Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) drew a record 38,135,118 spectators or an average of 45,671 fans per game. The Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) pulled in 6,238,740 fans, followed by Division II with 2,985,610 and Division III with an all-time high of 2,465,231.
  • The SEC set an all-time, all-conference record of 7,567,406 fans in 2013 and led all FBS conferences in average attendance for the 16th consecutive year with 75,674 fans per game.
  • The announced crowd of 115,109 at the Sept. 7, 2013 game between Michigan and Notre Dame set the all-time attendance record for a college football game and broke the previous Michigan Stadium attendance record of 114,804.
  • The top-five conferences for average-home-game attendance included the SEC (75,674), Big Ten (70,431), Big 12 (58,899), Pac-12 (53,619) and ACC (49,982). The SEC, Big Ten, ACC and Pac-12 all set overall attendance records in 2013.
  • Four FBS conferences, the ACC, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC, set records for total attendance, as did the Big Sky, Missouri Valley Football and Pioneer Football League in the FCS.
  • Michigan averaged 111,592 fans per home game, marking their 16th consecutive attendance title. The Wolverines have now captured the title 44 times since 1949 and 38 since 1974. Two other programs also averaged more than 100,000: Ohio State at 104,933 and Alabama with 101,505, and six programs averaged more than 90,000 fans at each home game: Texas (98,976), Penn State (96,587), Tennessee (95,584), Georgia (92,746), LSU (91,418) and Nebraska (90,933).
  • Auburn led all teams with 1,204,185 fans attending 14 games in 2013. Thirteen teams eclipsed more than one million spectators during the season: Ohio State (1,191,436), Michigan (1,174,360), Alabama (1,156,256), Nebraska (1,096,097), LSU (1,084,293), Georgia (1,071,401), Texas A&M (1,058,585), Tennessee (1,039,732), Texas (1,026,744), Penn State (1,011,515), South Carolina (1,002,947) and Florida State (1,001,074).
  • Five FBS teams enjoyed crowd increases of more than 8,000 fans per game in 2013: Washington (10,153-person increase per game), Kentucky (9,781), Buffalo (9,495), Akron (8,575) and Pittsburgh (8,247). (Stadium renovations at Washington played a key role in its increase.)
  • Appalachian State claimed its sixth FCS attendance title in seven years with an average of 24,894 fans per game, followed by Montana (24,380), James Madison (21,011) and Southern (20,107).
  • Tuskegee (Ala.) captured its seventh Division II attendance title in the past 16 years by averaging 14,954 fans per game, followed by Grand Valley State (Mich.) with 10,116 and Pittsburg State (Kan.) with 10,030.
  • St. John's (Minn.) netted its 12th Division III attendance title in 13 years with an average of 7,364 fans per game, followed by Geneva (Pa.) with 5,358, Wisconsin-Whitewater with 5,063, Bethel (Minn.) with 4,757 and Christopher Newport (Va.) with 4,680.
  • The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) earned its 35th FCS attendance title in 36 years, averaging 12,415 fans for a total of 682,841. The Lone Star Conference netted its fifth Division II attendance title and first since 1989, averaging 6,599 fans per game. The Minnesota Intercollegiate Conference claimed its eighth attendance title in nine years with 3,343 fans per game.
  • Clemson averaged a school-record 82,048 fans per game during the 2013 football season.
  • South Carolina sold out every home football game in 2013 and averaged 82,401 fans per game, almost 2,000 more than Williams-Brice Stadium's seating capacity. Pittsburgh sold more than 8,000 new season tickets while North Carolina State's season tickets sold out for the first time since 2008.
  • Utah State set an all-time attendance record for football, selling out its first three home games for the first time in school history and nearly doubling its number of season ticket holders.
  • Buffalo led the Mid-American Conference in football attendance in 2013, averaging 22,736 fans per game this past season, an increase of 2,000 more than any other school in the conference.
  • Oklahoma extended its home sellout streak to 92 straight games.
  • For the 23rd consecutive season, Penn State ranked among the top five in the nation in average home attendance.

Regular Season Ratings Highlights

  • The SEC on CBS averaged 7.4 million viewers and a 4.5 rating in 2013, a 20 percent increase in viewership and a 15 percent increase in ratings from 2012, making it the highest average of any network for the fifth consecutive year and giving CBS its best college football season since 2001.
  • ESPN averaged 2,644,000 viewers across all networks in 2013, an increase of 3 percent over last season, while ESPN2 averaged 1,108,000 viewers (up 8 percent) and ESPNU averaged 400,000 viewers (up 4 percent).
  • FOX averaged 3.1 million viewers for its college football games, a 10 percent increase from 2012.
  • ESPN's Saturday Night Football on ABC averaged an impressive 5,750,000 viewers and a 3.5 rating. For six of its 12 broadcasts this season, the show was the most-watched program of the night.
  • ESPN's coverage of the 2013 season reached 189,000,000 viewers for game telecasts across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPNEWS, averaging 1,865,000 viewers for 257 regular-season games.
  • College Football was the top-rated overall program on four of the first five Saturday nights of the 2013 season.
  • WatchESPN/ESPN3's regular-season games averaged 705,556,000 total live minutes viewed for an increase of 44 percent over 2012.
  • The 2013 Big Ten Championship Game between Michigan State and Ohio State delivered a 7.9/14 national household rating/share with 13.9 million viewers and is the highest-rated, most-watched ever for the event.
  • ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPNEWS combined for nearly 73,000,000 viewers for all game broadcasts during the 2013 season-opening weekend (Aug. 29-Sept. 2). The networks also combined for eight of the most-viewed games across all networks during the opening weekend, with each game drawing at least 2,740,000 viewers.
  • The ABC Saturday Night Football matchup between Clemson and Georgia on Aug. 31 averaged 8,137,000 viewers and a 4.8 rating, making it the series' most-viewed season-opener since its debut in 2006.
  • ESPN's new three-hour College GameDay averaged 1,830,000 viewers, a 10 percent increase over the same 9 a.m. to noon ET time period on ESPN in 2012.
  • ESPN averaged 3,840,000 viewers for all of its college football coverage on Sept. 7, giving the network its most-viewed Saturday ever during the regular season.
  • The six highest-rated and most-viewed games of the season were all SEC or Big Ten conference games, led by the SEC Championship Game between Missouri and Auburn on Dec. 7, which averaged 14.4 million viewers and an 8.6 rating. Including out-of-conference games, an SEC or Big Ten team was involved in 14 of the top 16 telecasts.
  • The SEC owned four of the top five highest-rated games in 2013: LSU v. Alabama, Alabama v. Texas A&M, Alabama v. Auburn and Missouri v. Auburn.
  • The SEC on CBS matchup between Georgia and LSU on Sept. 28 earned an overnight household rating of 4.9, a 75 percent increase over last year's 2.8.
  • ESPN's Aug. 29 season-opening doubleheader of North Carolina-South Carolina and Mississippi-Vanderbilt was the network's second highest-rated and third most-viewed Thursday night season-opening since 1999, with a combined average of 3,135,000 viewers and a 2.1 rating.
  • The SEC on CBS' presentation of the Iron Bowl between Alabama and Auburn on Nov. 30 averaged 13.8 million viewers and a national household rating/share of 8.2/17, up 242 percent from last year's game.
  • The ABC's Saturday Night Football telecast on Nov. 23 of Oklahoma State defeating Baylor 49-17 averaged 6,616,000 viewers and a 4.0 rating, making it the most-viewed program of the night across all networks.
  • Notre Dame football on NBC continued its powerful legacy of attracting strong viewership, averaging 3.3 million viewers for the season. The Sept. 21 Notre Dame-Michigan State game produced the season's high watermark with 4.8 viewers.
  • The CBS Sports broadcast of the 114th Army-Navy game's 4.2 rating on Dec. 14 tied for the highest rating for the game since 1999, up 2 percent from last year.
  • For the season, ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3 covered 310 regular-season Football Bowl Subdivision games exclusively, 217 more than every other national network combined, involving teams from all 10 conferences, plus independents Army, BYU, Navy and Notre Dame. The networks combined to reach more than 189,000,000 viewers.
  • ABC televised the two most-viewed college football games of the week on Nov. 2, led by the Florida State and Miami matchup, which averaged 8,354,000 viewers and a 5.1 rating, and the game between Michigan State and Michigan 29-6, which averaged 5,169,000 viewers and a 3.3 rating.
  • The ABC Saturday Night Football telecast of Ohio State defeating Penn State 63-14 on Oct. 26 was the most-viewed college football game of the week across all cable and broadcast networks, averaging 4,059,000 viewers and a 2.5 rating.
  • On the average Saturday, ESPN's Scorecenter/SportsCenter app posted 6,400,000 unique views (up 6 percent) and an average minute audience of 101,000 (up 61 percent). The college football app saw more than 1,100,100 unique views (up 18 percent).
  • For the 13th consecutive year, Birmingham, Ala., was the highest-rated metered market for ESPN's regular-season telecasts, averaging a 9.2 rating, the highest ever for the market. It was followed by Greenville (4.9), Knoxville (4.4), New Orleans (4.3), Columbus (3.3), Jacksonville (3.3), Memphis (3.3), Nashville (3.3), Atlanta (3.2), Louisville (3.2).

Post-Season Attendance Highlights

  • The 35 bowl games this season attracted 1,714,617 spectators to the stands (48,989 per contest).
  • Attendance at the final BCS games increased 3.2 percent this year with 397,106 fans attending the Rose, Sugar, Fiesta and Orange Bowls and the BCS National Championship Game. An average of 79,421 fans attended the BCS games compared to 76,952 fans at last year's bowls and the Citi BCS 2010 National Championship Game.
  • The VIZIO BCS National Championship in Pasadena, Calif., between Auburn and Florida State drew 94,208 fans, an 18 percent increase over last season's Discover BCS National Championship in Miami Gardens, Fla., between Alabama and Notre Dame.
  • The final BCS National Championship was the second most-attended BCS National Championship game, behind only the 2010 matchup between Alabama and Texas, the last time the game was held in Pasadena, Calif.
  • The Rose Bowl Game Presented by VIZIO between Michigan State and Stanford led all bowls in 2013-14 with 95,173 fans, marking the highest figure for the game since Michigan-Washington State in 1998 and continuing the longest sellout streak in college football dating back to 1947.
  • The Allstate Sugar Bowl between Alabama and Oklahoma drew 70,473 fans, a 30 percent increase in attendance over the 54,178 spectators who watched Louisville and Florida last season.
  • The Valero Alamo Bowl between Oregon and Texas produced a standing-room-only crowd of 65,918, the second largest attendance in the game's history. It was the game's third-straight sellout and the sixth in the last eight years.
  • The TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl between Georgia and Nebraska attracted 60,712 fans, a 25 percent increase over last year's game.
  • The Chick-fil-A Bowl between Duke and Texas A&M sold out for the 17th consecutive year, the second-longest sellout streak in the nation behind only the Rose Bowl, with an average attendance of 71,108 during the last 10 years.
  • The New Era Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium sold out with 47,122 fans for the Notre Dame-Rutgers matchup, marking the best figure yet for the four-year-old bowl.
  • The Military Bowl Presented by Northrop Grumman between Marshall and Maryland saw a 69 percent increase in attendance.
  • The Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl drew 42,178 fans, the second highest attendance in the history of both the bowl game and Sam Boyd Stadium.
  • Five bowl games were over capacity: the Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl, Valero Alamo Bowl, Rose Bowl Game Presented by VIZIO, Tostitos Fiesta Bowl and the VIZIO BCS National Championship.
  • Seventeen bowl games had crowds in excess of 50,000.
  • The R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl set an attendance record for the third-consecutive year with 54,728 fans in the seats for the Louisiana-Lafayette and Tulane matchup.
  • Coupling the 51,098 fans who attended the Russell Athletic Bowl and the 56,629 spectators at the Capital One Bowl, nearly 108,000 people passed through the gates of Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium in the span of five days.
  • The FCS attracted 184,279 spectators for an average of 8,012 fans at each of its 23 playoff games. The Division II playoff totaled 76,871 fans or an average of 3,342 for each of the 23 games. The Division III playoff drew 64,781 fans for an average of 2,090 for 31 games.

Bowl Season Ratings Highlights

  • The VIZIO BCS National Championship on ESPN between Auburn and Florida State was the third-most viewed cable television program of all time, averaging 25,572,036 viewers and a 14.4 household rating. The combined BCS "Megacast" pushed viewership over 26,061,000 and a 14.8 rating.
  • The five BCS games averaged 16,549,000 viewers and a 9.4 household score, up 9 percent and 7 percent respectively over last year.
  • WatchESPN generated 773,000 unique viewers and an average minute audience of 252,000 for fans that viewed the BCS Megacast. For all five BCS games, WatchESPN averaged 329,000 live unique viewers (up 52 percent), 20,300,000 live minutes viewed (up 86 percent) and an average minute audience of 92,000 (up 64%).
  • TV ratings were up in 56 percent of all bowls the last two seasons (2013 and 2014).
  • ESPN's 29 bowl telecasts averaged 5,959,000 viewers and a 3.6 HH rating for an increase of 9 percent (vs. 5,468,000 and vs. 3.3) over last season.
  • The Rose Bowl Game Presented by VIZIO, Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, Allstate Sugar Bowl and Discover Orange Bowl combined averaged 14,344,000 viewers and an 8.2 HH rating, an increase of 15 percent in viewership and 12 percent in ratings over the same four BCS bowls last season.
  • The Allstate Sugar Bowl between Alabama and Oklahoma averaged 16,338,982 viewers (9.3 HH rating), making it the most-viewed Sugar Bowl since 2004. The game saw a 61 percent increase in viewership and 50 percent rating increase over last year's game.
  • The 100th Rose Bowl Game Presented by VIZIO between Michigan State and Stanford averaged 18,635,533 viewers and a 10.2 HH rating, both up 9 percent over last year's game.
  • The combined viewership for the Rose Bowl Presented by VIZIO and Tostitos Fiesta Bowl averaged 14,774,000 viewers and an 8.3 HH rating, an 8 percent increase over last season in both (13,736,000 and 7.7 HH rating).
  • ESPN's coverage of the Discover Orange Bowl averaged 11,400,172 viewers and a 6.7 HH rating, an 8 percent increase in viewership and a 10 percent increase in ratings over last season, making it the most-viewed Discover Orange Bowl since 2008.
  • ESPN's Jan. 1 schedule, highlighted by the Outback Bowl, Rose Bowl Game Presented by VIZIO and Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, averaged 6,299,000 viewers and a 3.7 HH rating, making it the network's second most-viewed day ever.
  • The 2013 Chick-fil-A Bowl between Duke and Texas A&M was the most-viewed non-BCS bowl game in ESPN history with an average of 8,688,913 viewers. The Chick-fil-A Bowl also ranked as the 14th most-watched college football game of 2013.
  • The TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl between Georgia and Nebraska was ESPN2's most-viewed game ever, averaging 4,517,648 viewers and a 2.6 HH rating, up 103 percent and 90 percent over last year's game, respectively.
  • Non-BCS bowls on WatchESPN/ESPN3 averaged 79,000 live unique viewers (up 27 percent) and 3,400,000 live minutes viewed (up 47 percent) over last year.
  • The Valero Alamo Bowl between Oregon and Texas averaged 7,547,399 viewers, up 12 percent over the matchup between Oregon State and Texas last season, making it the second most-viewed non-BCS bowl game in 2013 and ESPN's 8th most-watched non-BCS bowl game of all-time.
  • The Russell Athletic Bowl between Louisville and Miami, Fla., averaged 5,746,811 viewers, an increase of 46 percent over the previous game.
  • The Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl achieved a 60 percent increase in viewers from last year, going from 1,952,256 to 3,124,021.
  • The San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl between Northern Illinois and Utah State produced a 49 percent increase in viewership from last season with 3,278,236 fans tuning in to the game.
  • The Fight Hunger Bowl between BYU and Washington saw a 68 percent increase in viewership as 3,753,270 fans watched the game this year.
  • The Military Bowl presented by Northrop Grumman between Marshall and Maryland averaged 2,574,654 viewers, an increase of 35 percent over the previous season.
  • The Little Caesars Bowl between Bowling Green and Pittsburgh recorded a 26 percent increase in viewership as an average of 3,344,650 fans watched the Dec. 26 broadcast.
  • The AdvoCare V100 Bowl between Arizona and Boston College notched a 12 percent increase in its rating.
  • 28 of the 35 bowl games each attracted more than 2.2 million viewers with the top ten contests each drawing more than 5.7 million fans, and 22 bowl games garnered a 2.1 or better household rating.
  • Birmingham, Ala., averaged an impressive 11.9 metered market rating for the 29 ESPN bowl game telecasts.

Notable Bowl Facts and Milestones

  • There will be a record 39 bowls this upcoming season with the addition of the Bahamas Bowl (Nassau, Bahamas), the Boca Raton Bowl (Boca Raton, Fla.), the Camellia Bowl (Montgomery, Ala.) and the Miami Beach Bowl (Miami, Fla.). In 2014, the FBS will increase to 128 teams, adding three FCS teams: Appalachian State, Georgia Southern and Old Dominion.
  • Florida State's win over Auburn in the BCS National Championship broke the SEC's streak of seven consecutive national championships. The Seminoles became the fourth team and the first non-SEC Team to win the BCS National Championship for a second time. 2013 was the last year of the BCS, as the FBS moves to the College Football Playoff in 2014.
  • Florida State's 18-point deficit against Auburn was the largest ever overcome to win the BCS championship. The game marked the Seminoles' 14th win of the season, the most in school history.
  • The Allstate Sugar Bowl hosted the 9th Annual NFF National Hall of Fame Salute, featuring the 2013 College Football Hall of Fame Class. The Sugar Bowl also hosted its 80th edition of the classic game.
  • Alabama made a record 14th appearance in the Sugar Bowl, giving the school a record 61 postseason appearances.
  • Baylor and Central Florida's combined 94 points in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl set the record for most points scored in the history of the bowl game. It was also the second-highest scoring game in the history of any of the current BCS bowls, behind only the 103 points scored by Clemson and West Virginia in the 2012 Discover Orange Bowl.
  • Duke and Texas A&M set or tied a staggering 20 Chick-fil-A Bowl records, including points scored, total offense, passing and first downs.
  • Michigan State's victory in the Rose Bowl Game Presented by VIZIO over Stanford made them just the third team in Big Ten history to win 13 games, joining Minnesota (13-0) in 1904 and Ohio State (14-0) in 2002.
  • Vanderbilt appeared in a bowl game for the third-straight year for the first time in school history, and its win in the BBVA Compass Bowl gave the school its first back-to-back nine-win seasons.
  • With its win against Georgia in the TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl, Nebraska joined Alabama and Oregon as the only FBS teams to win at least nine games in each of the last six seasons.
  • Boise State, LSU and Oklahoma are the only three teams nationally to win eight or more games and participate in the postseason for at least nine consecutive seasons.
  • Louisiana-Lafayette's victory in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl made them just the ninth team in FBS history to win the same bowl in three-straight seasons.
  • With Oklahoma's win in the Allstate Sugar Bowl, head coach Bob Stoops became the first coach to win all four BCS Bowl Games and a National Championship.
  • The Pac-12 sent a record nine teams into the postseason, where the conference excelled with a record six bowl victories.
  • North Texas won its first bowl game since 2002 with its victory over UNLV in the Heart of Dallas Bowl, Presented by PlainsCapital Bank. The game was also UNLV's first bowl appearance since 2000.
  • The combined 76 points scored by Alabama and Oklahoma in the Allstate Sugar Bowl was the second-highest combined point total in Sugar Bowl history while Oklahoma's 45 points were the fifth-highest total by one team in the game's history.
  • Southern California quarterback Cody Kessler set a Las Vegas Bowl record with four touchdown passes, while 2013 NFF National Scholar-Athlete and Fresno State quarterback Derek Carr set a Las Vegas Bowl record and tied the Mountain West postseason record with 54 pass attempts.
  • With Missouri's win over Oklahoma State in the AT&T Cotton Bowl, Gary Pinkel became the Tigers' all-time winningest coach, surpassing College Football Hall of Fame coach Don Faurot.
  • Colorado State's Kapri Bibbs and Navy's Keenan Reynolds each scored their 31st touchdown of the season in their respective bowl games, becoming just the third and fourth players to rush for 30 touchdowns in a season. They join College Football Hall of Famer from Oklahoma State Barry Sanders (37) and Wisconsin's Montee Ball (33).
  • Eight teams posted at least 45 points in their respective bowl games: Texas A&M (52), UCF (52), San Diego State (49), Colorado State (48), Duke (48), Oklahoma (45), USC (45) and Washington State (45).
  • Since 2004, the SEC holds the highest win percentage in bowl games at .659, followed by the Mountain West (.596), Big East/American (.571), Pac-12 (.552) and Big 12 (.526).
  • The Mountain West sent a record six teams into postseason bowl games in 2013.
  • The Sun Belt Conference at 2-0 (1.000) posted the best winning percentage in bowl games, and the SEC had the most wins with seven during the 2013-14 bowl season.
  • Florida State played in a bowl game this year for the 32nd consecutive year, the longest current streak in the nation, which started with the 1982 season.
  • The Rose Bowl became the first post season game to host its 100th edition while the Rose Bowl Parade staged its 125th anniversary.
  • The Hyundai Sun Bowl celebrated its 80th edition.
  • The Football Bowl Association reports that the 35 bowls this season collectively distributed $300,833,521 to 10 conferences up from $228,164,307 in 2008-09.
  • The Outback Bowl has the longest running title sponsorship of any college bowl. The bowl had a record $7.4 million combined payout this season, pushing its all-time total to more than $116 million since the game's inception.
  • Estimates place the economic impact of the Allstate Sugar Bowl at more than $2 billion during the past decade.
  • The 2013 Discover BCS National Championship and Discover Orange Bowl generated nearly $300 million in economic impact and added media value for South Florida last year.
  • The Chick-fil-A Bowl has generated more than $672 million in positive economic impact and $29 million in direct tax revenue between its Bowl and Kickoff Game events since it began tracking economic impact numbers in 1999.
  • The Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl made a $19.6 million direct impact in 2013 on Nashville's economy, creating nearly $250 million in direct economic impact on the city during its 16-year history.
  • The Chick-fil-A Bowl distributed a record total team payout of $7.4 million in 2013, bringing the 46-year team payout total to $125.2 million while distributing another $17.3 million to charity since 2002.
  • The Fight Hunger Bowl, which will move from AT&T Park to Levi's Stadium next season, has generated $140 million in economic impact during the past 12 years.

2013-14 Chronological Bowl Results

Bowl Result. (Attendance) & [US HH coverage rating] & (Household Impressions) & [Viewers (P2+)]

  • Gildan New Mexico Bowl, ESPN: Colorado State 48 – Washington State 45. (27,104) & [1.8] & (2,104,200) & [2,769,707]
  • Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl, ABC: Southern California 45 – Fresno State 20. (42,178) & [2.2] & (2,585,558) & [3,321,553]
  • Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, ESPN: San Diego State 49 – Buffalo 24. (21,951) & [1.4] & (1,572,984) & [2,061,855]
  • R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, ESPN: Louisiana-Lafayette 24 – Tulane 21. (54,728) & [1.3] & (1,510,951) & [2,065,938]
  • Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl St. Petersburg, ESPN: East Carolina 37 – Ohio 20. (20,053) & [0.9] & (1,070,288) & [1,272,169]
  • Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl, ESPN: Oregon State 38 – Boise State 23. (29,106) & [1.7] & (1,949,373) & [2,724,563]
  • Little Caesars Bowl, ESPN: Pittsburgh 30 – Bowling Green 27. (26,259) & [2.1] & (2,464,332) & [3,344,650]
  • San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl, ESPN: Utah State 21 – Northern Illinois 14. (23,408) & [2.2] & (2,502,490) & [3,278,236]
  • Military Bowl presented by Northrop Grumman, ESPN: Marshall 31 – Maryland 20. (30,163) & [1.7] & (1,975,160) & [2,574,654]
  • Texas Bowl, ESPN: Syracuse 21 – Minnesota 17. (32,327) & [2.5] & (2,837,604) & [3,993,072]
  • Fight Hunger Bowl, ESPN: Washington 31 – BYU 16. (34,136) & [2.3] & (2,678,271) & [3,753,270]
  • New Era Pinstripe Bowl, ESPN: Notre Dame 29 – Rutgers 16. (47,122) & [3.2] & (3,687,344) & [4,836,624]
  • Belk Bowl, ESPN: North Carolina 39 – Cincinnati 17. (45,211) & [3.1] & (3,596,721) & [4,765,084]
  • Russell Athletic Bowl, ESPN: Louisville 36 – Miami, Fla. 9. (51,098) & [3.5] & (4,062,544) & [5,746,811]
  • Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, ESPN: Kansas State 31 – Michigan 14. (53,284) & [2.8] & (3,283,035) & [4,378,981]
  • Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl, ESPN: Navy 24 – Middle Tennessee 6. (39,246) & [1.2] & (1,329,428) & [1,649,989]
  • Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl, ESPN: Mississippi 25 – Georgia Tech 17. (52,125) & [2.0] & (2,354,198) & [3,124,021]
  • Valero Alamo Bowl, ESPN: Oregon 30 – Texas 7. (65,918) & [4.5] & (5,207,079) & [7,547,399]
  • National University Holiday Bowl, ESPN: Texas Tech 37 – Arizona State 23. (52,930) & [2.3] & (2,605,439) & [3,513,817]
  • AdvoCare V100 Bowl, ESPN: Arizona 42 – Boston College 19. (36,917) & [1.4] & (1,655,969) & [2,051,902]
  • Hyundai Sun Bowl, CBS: UCLA 42 – Virginia Tech 12. (47,912) & [2.4] & (2,757,671) & [3,678,393]
  • AutoZone Liberty Bowl, ESPN: Mississippi State 44 – Rice 7. (57,846) & [1.7] & (1,952,943) & [2,466,148]
  • Chick-fil-A Bowl, ESPN: Texas A&M 52 – Duke 48. (67,946) & [5.0] & (5,737,251) & [8,688,913]
  • TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl, ESPN2: Nebraska 24 – Georgia 19. (60,712) & [2.6] & (3,059,054) & [4,517,648]
  • Heart of Dallas Bowl, Presented By PlainsCapital Bank, ESPNU: North Texas 36 – UNLV 14. (38,380) & [0.2] & (231,413) & [331,880]
  • Outback Bowl, ESPN: LSU 21 – Iowa 14. (51,296) & [3.2] & (3,663,037) & [5,435,252]
  • Capital One Bowl, ABC: South Carolina 34 – Wisconsin 24. (56,629) & [5.6] & (6,480,124) & [9,586,997]
  • Rose Bowl Game Presented By VIZIO, ESPN: Michigan State 24 – Stanford 20. (95,173) & [10.2] & (11,851,287) & [18,635,533]
  • Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, ESPN: Central Florida 52 – Baylor 42. (65,172) & [6.6] & (7,654,261) & [11,303,941]
  • Allstate Sugar Bowl, ESPN: Oklahoma 45 – Alabama 31. (70,473) & [9.3] & (10,775,266) & [16,338,982]
  • AT&T Cotton Bowl, FOX: Missouri 41 – Oklahoma State 31. (72,690) & [3.9] & (4,484,328) & [6,541,183]
  • Discover Orange Bowl, ESPN: Clemson 40 – Ohio State 35. (72,080) & [6.7] & (7,729,731) & [11,400,172]
  • BBVA Compass Bowl, ESPN: Vanderbilt 41 – Houston 24. (42,717) & [1.8] & (2,130,718) & [2,574,313]
  • GoDaddy Bowl, ESPN: Arkansas State 23 – Ball State 20. (36,119) & [1.1] & (1,265,090) & [1,706,884]
  • VIZIO BCS National Championship, ESPN: Florida State 34 – Auburn 31. (94,208) & [14.4] & (16,727,036) & [25,572,036]

The NFF would like to thank the following people for providing information for this release, including FOX Sports' Dan Bell, NFF Correspondent Bo Carter, ESPN's Kurt Dargis, the NCAA's Gary Johnson, ESPN's Michael Humes, ESPN's Josh Krulewitz, ESPN's Eric Loh, NBC's Christopher McCloskey, CBS' Jen Sabatelle, CBS' Dan Sabreen and the FBA's Wright Waters.

*The NCAA began keeping national home football attendance in 1948 (including non-NCAA teams) and started keeping NCAA-only teams in 1978.

**Fan is defined as those adults who are "very, somewhat or a little bit interested" in college football.