News Article
Published
Oct 21, 2026 at 01:44 PM EDT
Was it due to the No. 8 BYU Cougars facing off against No. 2 Notre Dame Fighting Irish?
Was it the lovely Provo, Utah air?
Was it because Brigham Young University alumnus and NFL legend Steve Young was firing off his picks for the day?
Whatever it was, ESPN College GameDay at BYU set a record in 2026 as the most-watched episode on Saturday.
“College GameDay from BYU averaged 3(million) viewers on ESPN, the most-watched episode of the season and the third most-watched regular season episode ever,” Front Office Sports posted on X on Tuesday.
“The show peaked at 3.9M viewers. Through seven weeks, it’s pacing up 7% over its 2025 season average.”
According to USA Today, that peak point was when Young was picking his winning teams – where he went 10 for 10. One of those, of course, being the Cougars beating the previous undefeated Fighting Irish.
It was the first time BYU hosted GameDay in almost two decades.
Of course, the day wasn’t without controversy. After it was announced that Hall of Famer Young was perfect with his picks, fans targeted ESPN, the network that had fired the former San Francisco 49ers three years before.
“Would like to point out that Steve Young was laid off by ESPN in 2023,” one person said on X. “Young is knowledgeable and well-articulated. ESPN essentially replaced him with sideshow personalities like Jason Kelce and Pat McAfee. Now ESPN promotes Young’s ELITE ball knowledge.”
BYU ended up making Notre Dame fans tear up by pulling off a 28-24 upset.
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