Bulldogs' TV bowl rating ranks fifth

January 29, 2004 | Football

Jan. 29, 2004

ATHENS, Ga.--------Georgia's Capital One Bowl overtime victory over Purdue had the highest television rating among all the non-Bowl Championship Series games.

The Capital One Bowl drew a rating of 8.0, according to Neilson Media Research. The rating is the percentage of television sets nationally tuned into the game. Playing on ABC, the Bulldogs won the Capital One Bowl 34-27 in overtime to complete an 11-3 season.

The Sugar Bowl, this year's BCS national championship game between LSU and Oklahoma, had a rating of 14.5. That was just ahead of the Southern Cal-Michigan matchup in the Rose Bowl, which drew a 14.4. The Miami-Florida State rematch in the Orange Bowl had a 9.7 rating, followed by the Ohio State-Kansas State matchup in the Fiesta Bowl at 8.7.

With an 8.0 rating, the Capital One Bowl was almost double the next-closest non-BCS game. The Washington State-Texas game in the Holiday Bowl had a rating of 4.86.