The TV ratings proved views were interested. Each of the four games averaged 10.6 million viewers. That’s more than the four the non-CFP New Year’s bowls after the 2023 season averaged (8.14 million), and also topped the average for this year’s four major conference championship games (10 million).

Eight teams remain in the College Football Playoff, and none are perfect. As far as fans are concerned, that's a good thing. It leads to more uncertainty about how the final three rounds will play out,

College football's 12-team playoff rollout was spoiled by the NFL, with the Texans-Chiefs getting 15.5 million viewers while the SMU-Penn State game averaged 6.4 million. The Steelers-Ravens game drew 15.