COLLEGE PARK, MD - OCTOBER 17: Rutgers Scarlet Knights wide receiver KJ Duff (8) make a reception against Maryland Terrapins defensive back Jamare Glasker (4) during the Rutgers Scarlet Knights game versus the Maryland Terrapins on October 17, 2026 at SECU Stadium in College Park, MD. (Photo by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Bob Cancro Thu, October 22, 2026 at 11:55 AM UTC · 4 min read About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement With RU on a bye last week, I will admit that I got lazy and didn't stay on top of the attendance. So a quick look at week 6 in the Big Ten; RU's bye week.
First, so much for it being hard to win on the road. A couple of thoughts:
Northwestern opened their new stadium with Penn State and packed it. Ball State as game 2 didn't quite excite the fan base
Penn State had their white out, drew a huge crowd, and then laid an egg….again
Four games noted as sell outs/capacity-plus; likely all telling pretty close to the truth
As for TV viewers in week six, the top five games all involved either Big Ten or SEC teams — surprise!
Big games and/or big teams draw lots of eyes. Even if the game is on BTN; Ohio State and Maryland drew over 1.5 million viewers and it likely wasn't because of the Terps. The "better" games were on the major networks and got a lot more…but not by that much. And I was quite surprised that FS1 didn't have a better number, even if it was a midwestern-exclusive game.
The Big Ten had seven contests; and the Rutgers-Maryland game (maybe) did not have the smallest attendance. That honor went to UCLA – now 6-0 ! – playing a pretty good Wisconsin team. They barely got more than the entire capacity of Northwestern's new place into the Rose Bowl….echo, echo, echo. Okay, it was a cloudy day….for a 7:30 kickoff. Indiana, Michigan, and Oregon all drew over capacity.
A different look….because I still have too much time on my hands Friday night. Who else played and what do they draw?
Last Friday there was no MLB playoffs, two NHL games. And, if you care, a lot of international soccer.
There were four games on TV, starting with one on BTN: Washington at Purdue. And then three others covering the Ivy League, The American, and the Sun Belt conferences. A look at how the other half, well, other 90% live.
The total attendance at these four games was about 18,000 fewer than the total at the Big House. And I will tell you from personal experience that I know that at least one of those attendance totals is not…quite…accurate. I will leave it at that.
When you're in The American or the Sun Belt, you are not playing in 50,000 seat stadiums, and that's fine. You don't build something that will be at 30 or 40% capacity each week. Penn football, however, was a real surprise.
I understand, it's the Ivy League. Penn is in the city where there are a million other things to do. It was a rainy night. But, 1,860 in attendance? And that's a maybe. I actually checked the Columbia football website to see if maybe they had a different number. And this game really wasn't an outlier; Penn drew 1,839 for its game against Lehigh. Against Howard – a bigger draw? – it had 5,342 in the building.
As for TV, who watched those Friday night games?
Apparently, from what I could find, official Nielsen TV viewership numbers for the matchup between Columbia and Penn on ESPNU were not publicly reported in the national broadcast charts; "low-tier" cable broadcasts for these games rarely generate enough measured viewers to crack public Nielsen data releases.
And in the Big Ten? Not a lot of love for the two bottom dwellers. And for some reason, the source did not have Northwestern-Michigan State in the ratings. It is not unusual to have BTN ratings at the bottom; these are not on major networks, and they usually include lesser games. This week, RU-Michigan will be on BTN. Will the Wolverines be a draw despite the opponent?
Source: Sports
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