“If this is to be our end, then I would have them make such an end, as to be worthy of remembrance,” King Théoden told Aragorn in The Two Towers as the people of Rohan faced certain doom.
In some ways, the Pac-12 Conference went out just as he did, putting up its best performance during the grand finale.
The Washington Huskies and Oregon Ducks put on a show with the Pac-12 Championship and a berth in the College Football Playoff on the line, with Michael Penix Jr. and the Huskies outlasting Bo Nix and the Ducks for a thrilling 34-31 victory.
Whether it was because of the high stakes of the game, the knowledge that this was the Pac-12’s final game, or the back-and-forth contest itself (likely all three), it ended up drawing a huge audience for some bittersweet validation.
Friday night, @ABCNetwork delivered the most-watched @pac12 Championship Game 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 with 9.2M viewers tuning in for @oregonfootball 🆚 @UW_Football 🏆
🏈 Audience was up 47% over '22
🏈 #Pac12FB peaked at 11.1M viewers from 11:30-11:45p ET*Based on Nielsen Fast Nationals pic.twitter.com/zExxl6ky2l
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) December 2, 2023
According to Nielsen Fast Nationals, the game, which was televised on ABC, garnered an average of 9.2 million viewers, making the last Pac-12 Championship Game the most-watched Pac-12 Championship Game ever.
ESPN added that audiences peaked between 11:30 and 11:45 p.m. ET at 11.1 million as viewers tuned in to find out whether or not the Huskies would hold off the Ducks.
The 2023 title game overtook the 2022 version between Utah and USC, which was broadcast on Fox and garnered 6.2 million viewers. That game was itself a massive increase in viewership over the 2021 version between Oregon and Utah which averaged 4.2 million viewers on ESPN.
While the future of the conference was snuffed out during the season, it ended up being a banner year for Pac-12 football. As Sports Media Watch noted, four of the 18 most-watched college football games so far this season were Pac-12 games, which matches the SEC for most of any conference. It helped that Colorado has tremendous buzz to start the season while Washington and Oregon have been in the national championship hunt all season long.
When future generations look back on the demise of the Pac-12 and why it ended, it’s going to be quite a confusing history lesson.
[ESPN]
