Penn State football is huge. There is no denying that. Nittany Lion fans are all over Pennsylvania, but that doesn’t mean Pitt football doesn’t have It’s own passionate fanbase.
Pitt/Tennessee outdrew Penn State/Ohio by a wide margin.
According to SportsMediaWatch.com, 4.46 million (2.4 rating), people watched the 3:30 p.m. Johnny Majors Classic on ABC.
It was the second-most watched college football game of the weekend with Alabama/Texas number one with 10.60 million viewers and a 5.7 rating.
Penn State had the 10th-highest game with 1.55 million viewers and a .09 rating.
To be fair, a lot of the viewers for the Pitt game were Tennessee fans.
ESPN says Knoxville, Nashville and Birmingham were the top three local markets for the game, but Pittsburgh was fourth with an 11.7 rating locally, a great rating for Pitt Football.
Penn State’s first game of the season against Purdue aired against the Backyard Brawl, with Penn State winning that ratings battle, 3.512 million to 3.152 million.
It should be noted though that the Penn State game was on FOX while the Pitt/WVU game was on cable, ESPN.
Pitt lost in overtime to Tennessee 34-27 and Penn State beat Ohio 40-10.
Penn State is ranked 22 in the nation, Pitt is 23.