LSU isn't just winning games and generating headlines in Lane Kiffin's first season in Baton Rouge. The Tigers are also drawing one of the biggest television audiences in college football.
According to updated data released by Nielsen, LSU ranks No. 2 nationally among the most-watched teams in college football, averaging approximately 7.8 million viewers per game through the first four weeks of the 2026 season.
Only Texas has attracted a larger average television audience.
The Longhorns occupy the top spot at just over 9 million average viewers, followed by LSU at No. 2. Wisconsin, Ohio State and Ole Miss round out Nielsen's top five.
The rest of the top 10 consists of Tennessee, Michigan, Florida, Kentucky and Alabama.
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LSU's place near the top comes during a season in which interest surrounding the program has been especially high. Kiffin's arrival in Baton Rouge brought enormous attention to the Tigers, and LSU has already played multiple games with significant national interest during the opening month of the season.
The Tigers opened Kiffin's tenure with a 51-10 victory over Clemson before defeating Louisiana Tech, falling at Ole Miss and responding with a dominant 35-6 victory over Texas A&M last Saturday in Tiger Stadium.
Nielsen's measurement covers games from Aug. 29 through Sept. 26 and uses average viewers per game. The company's methodology includes P2+ ratings and live plus same-day viewing using its Big Data + Panel measurement.
The rankings include games televised on ABC, CBS, The CW, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, FOX, FS1, NBC, NFL Network, TNT and USA Network. Nielsen notes that partial and regionalized telecasts are excluded.
For LSU, the numbers provide another measure of the enormous national interest surrounding the program during Kiffin's first season.
And through the first month of the 2026 season, only one team in college football has attracted more television viewers than the Tigers.
