After breaking records with the first round of College Football Playoffs, the NCAA (and cable) hit new highs on Monday night. A record 33.3 million viewers tuned into ESPN's coverage of the Championship Game between Oregon and Ohio State.
Read More Cable's Ratings Winners and Losers of 2014
All told, the debut of the College Football Playoff format brought the three top programs in cable history — with 28 million tuning into the Rose Bowl and the Sugar Bowl on New Year's Day.
It's an incredibly auspicious start to the cable network's landmark 12-year, $7.3 billion deal to air the playoffs and the championship game. And it comes after an especially good 2014 for ESPN. The year marked its first atop all other cable channels, besting every other network in primetime viewership and adults 18-49.
Year over year, Monday's victory for Ohio State marked a huge jump from the Championship Game — the last in the BCS system. This year marked a 31 percent increase in viewership from the 25.6 million that the Auburn-Florida State Championship earned.
