Kansas-Missouri Draws Fourth-Most Viewers in Week 2

Kansas and Missouri’s rivalry matchup returned to the national spotlight Friday night, and the television audience showed just how much interest surrounded the game.

The Jayhawks and Tigers averaged 3.09 million viewers on FOX, making Kansas-Missouri the fourth-most-watched college football game of Week 2. Putting the rivalry ahead of every other game that weekend outside of the top three national matchups.

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The only games to attract larger audiences were Ohio State against Texas, Oklahoma against Michigan and Alabama against Kentucky.

Ohio State-Texas led the way with nearly 14 million viewers on ABC, while Oklahoma-Michigan averaged 8.22 million on FOX. Alabama-Kentucky followed with roughly 7.3 million viewers on ABC. Kansas-Missouri was the only other matchup to reach the 3 million mark besides Arizona-BYU, which averaged about 3.01 million viewers.

The numbers are significant for a Kansas program that has continued to build national attention under head coach Lance Leipold. The matchup was played in Lawrence for the first time since 2005, adding another layer to one of the oldest rivalries in college football.

Kansas entered the game 1-0 after defeating LIU 51-6 in its season opener, while Missouri also entered the matchup undefeated. The game also carried plenty of historical significance because it marked the renewal of the Border War rivalry in Lawrence.

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Although Kansas ultimately fell to Missouri 38-21, the television audience demonstrated that there was considerable interest in the matchup beyond the two schools and their fan bases.

The game also performed particularly well for FOX’s Friday night college football window. According to Sports Media Watch, the Kansas-Missouri audience was up 33% from FOX’s average Friday college football audience the previous week.

For Kansas, the strong television numbers provide another indication of the attention surrounding the program. Even with the loss, millions of viewers watched the Jayhawks compete in one…

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Publish date : 2026-09-16 16:07:00

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